Iranian oil minister Javad Owji on Jan. 23 said the country's natural gas consumption hit a record high, and asked the public to conserve usage.
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The National Iranian Gas Co.'s dispatching director, Mohammadreza Joulaei, said that cold weather in the coming days will raise the consumption more by a few million cu m/d.
"There are 28 million gas subscribers in the country. When someone consumes only a few percent more gas, the result is what we are experiencing," Joulaei said, according to oil ministry news service Shana. He warned that some industries would face supply restrictions to provide gas to households. .
"We have to cut fuel for power plants and industries such as petrochemical and steel as much as the consumption goes up in the household sector," he said.
Iran's gas production stands at 800 million cu m/d. The country shares the world's largest gas deposit with Qatar.
On Nov. 23, Joulaei said that Iran had to use two of its gas storages in Sarajeh and Shourijeh to avoid supply cuts.
It was not clear whether the shortage has impacted Iran's gas exports to Turkey, Iraq and Azerbaijan as part of a swap that started in January. Iran had briefly cut Turkish supply and resumed gas exports on Jan. 21 due to a "gas leak in a Turkish station," Shana reported.