TEHRAN (Iran News) – Managing Director of National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) Hassan Montazer Torbati has said that so far about 120 trillion rials (over $2.85 billion) has been spent for connecting the southeastern Chabahar port to the national gas network.
According to Torbati, the supply of natural gas to the strategic port and to the Makran coasts is going to create industrial prosperity in the region, Shana reported.
Speaking in a follow-up meeting on Sistan-Baluchestan gas supply projects, Torbati said due to the vastness of the province, in total, 2,000 sections of gas pipelines have been designed and planned to be implemented across the province, of which so far 300 kilometers (km) have been implemented and 770 km of pipelines are currently being implemented.
Torbati put the projected capital for the implementation of the mentioned pipelines with the gas supply facilities in the cities at more than 200 trillion rials (about $4.7 billion), saying that the necessary steel sheets and pipes for the mentioned pipelines have been provided.
Back in February, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh had stated that over 95 percent of the country’s population is currently enjoying natural gas through the country’s huge national network.
According to the Oil Minister, the coverage of the national gas network in rural areas has also doubled over the mentioned period to reach 84 percent.
Since the Iranian calendar year 1392 (March 2013) up to the previous calendar year’s 11th month (started on January 20) over 20,000 rural areas with a total population of 1.76 million households have been supplied with natural gas through the national gas network, according to Zanganeh.
Chabahar Port, the only Iranian ocean port, is a strategic port with unique opportunities that can attract investments from Iranian and foreign private sectors.
The development of the Chabahar Port is important for the economic development of the region and also the neighboring countries and in this regard sustainable supply of energy carriers to the port has been of significant importance for the Iranian government and the projects for expansion of the national gas network in Sistan-Baluchestan province, where the port lays, have been seriously pursued by the NIGC over the past few years.
