Speaking on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Paknejad emphasized that the country has been supplying power plants with a record high of over 52 million liters of diesel fuel per day this month, compared to less than 35 million liters during the same period last year.

Paknejad attributed the increased gas consumption in residential areas to the recent cold weather, with daily usage reaching up to 681 million cubic meters. He explained that power plants must adjust their fuel mix, which includes gas, diesel, and diesel, to compensate for reduced gas supplies.

"We provide power plants with a fuel basket consisting of gas, diesel, and diesel. They must optimize their consumption of the latter two to offset the decrease in gas supply," he said.

The minister highlighted efforts to optimize energy consumption and manage demand, noting that hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested in developing gas fields. However, he warned that unchecked consumption continues to rise.

"Alongside increasing production, we must focus on optimizing consumption and demand management to minimize imbalances," Paknejad said.

Regarding the power outage in parts of Tehran, Paknejad clarified that it was unrelated to fuel shortages at power plants supplying the city.

"Power plants such as Parand, Damavand, and others on the outskirts of Tehran, which supply electricity to the province, were in a completely suitable condition in terms of fuel supply. Therefore, the power outage, especially in eastern Tehran, was not due to fuel issues at these plants," he said.

Paknejad also addressed recent comments by the new U.S. administration regarding Iran's oil exports, asserting that the enemy's "wishful thinking" to reduce Iran's oil exports to zero will never materialize. "The Iranian people should know that the enemy’s misguided hopes and ill intentions to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero will never come to fruition," he said.

Efforts to deliver diesel to power plants have also intensified, with the activation of new product pipelines and the use of road tankers, resulting in higher deliveries compared to previous years. Paknejad stressed that the imbalance in supply and demand is a long-standing issue, not a recent development, and requires sustained efforts to address.