Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the weekly cabinet session, he added, “As winter is approaching, the Dispatching Department of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), in its Tuesday report, announced that gas consumption in household, trade, and minor industries sectors has hit 465 million cubic meters per day (mcm/d).

The power plant and industrial sectors’ natural gas consumption has jumped around six percent from a year earlier, said the minister, continuing, “On the other hand, 36 mcm/d and 6 mcm/d of gas have been delivered to power plants and major industries, respectively, causing a 20-million-liter decrease in their daily consumption of liquid fuel – a large step toward clean air.”

Elaborating on projects for reducing air pollution, Owji referred to the collecting of associated petroleum gas (APG), stating 11.5 mcm of flare gas has been gathered a day since the 13th administration took office and the volume of APG to be captured by the end of the year (March 19, 2024) will reach 18 mcm/d.

The Oil Ministry is equipping taxis and pick-up trucks with bi-fuel systems to take another stride toward improving air quality, he mentioned.