Mohammad Reza Aref, the First Vice President, announced on October 5 that due to damage to energy infrastructure in the two recent wars, 250 million cubic meters of gas have been removed from the network. The government hopes to restore 100 million cubic meters of this amount before the onset of cold weather, but even if this promise is fulfilled, a significant portion of the lost capacity will still not return to the network.
History of the gas crisis in Iran
This reduction has occurred at a time when the Islamic Republic was unable to create a stable balance between gas production and consumption even before the war. Last winter, gas consumption in the residential, commercial, and small industrial sectors reached a record 737 million cubic meters per day, which is equivalent to about 85 percent of the network's gas. Meanwhile, the gas shortage on some cold days reached about 300 million cubic meters per day.
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In the past five years, gas shortages have recurred almost every winter, and the government has shifted restrictions among industries, power plants, and in some cases households to maintain the network. Jawad Owji, the then Minister of Oil, stated that the gas shortage in winter 1400 was about 230 to 240 million cubic meters per day.
Consequences of the gas and electricity crisis
In 1402, officials from the National Gas Company reported that the winter season's shortage could reach about 250 million cubic meters per day. For winter 1403, the National Gas Company announced that the shortage during peak consumption would be about 250 to 300 million cubic meters. This chronic crisis must be managed with reduced capacity and damaged infrastructure.
The First Vice President Masoud Pezeshkian stated that the government does not want to cut off electricity and gas to industries, but to preserve energy in the production sector, some outages may be implemented. Additionally, in the steel industry, a 5.7 percent reduction in crude steel production in 1403 is related to energy constraints.
As 80 percent of the country's electricity production depends on gas, the gas crisis has also led to an electricity crisis. In winter, when household consumption increases, less gas remains for power plants. This situation could lead to a cycle of blackouts and air pollution.
Despite having the second-largest natural gas reserves in the world, Iran has been facing chronic shortages for years. About 70 to 75 percent of the country's gas is supplied from the South Pars gas field, which, due to natural pressure decline in some areas, requires urgent measures to maintain production.
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