The National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) says that natural gas usage in the country’s household and business sectors nearly doubled during the first cold wave of the autumn season that started last weekend.
Head of NIGC’s dispatching operations said on Thursday that household and businesses gas consumption had increased to 310 million cubic meters (mcm) per day on average over the working week starting October 9.
Mohammad Reza Joulayi said the figure shows an increase of 82% compared to the week to October 7 when consumption was 170 mcm per day on average.
Iran charges highly subsidized prices for natural gas supplied to households and businesses as experts blame those prices for illogically high levels of gas consumptions in the country.
Rising usage over the past winter forced the NIGC to cut gas supplies to electricity stations across Iran, causing brief but recurrent power cuts in large cities across the country.
Iranian Oil Ministry authorities have warned there could be a shortage of nearly 200 mcm of gas over the cold days of the upcoming winter as demand is expected to increase by 8-10 percent year on year.
NIGC has a capacity to pump nearly 1 billion cubic meters of gas per day to a national pipeline network which also supplies gas to neighboring countries of Iraq and Turkey.
Joulayi said that the government has devised plans to ensure power plants in Iran will have access to enough supplies of fuel oil over the winter to prevent any electricity outages in the country.