Iran’s gas exports to neighboring countries had never reached 70 million cubic meters per day, Shana quoted Mohammadreza Joolaei as saying.

The official put at 75 mcm the average figure for Iran’s current daily gas exports to Iraq and Turkey.

Joolaei said this record was set at a time when electricity consumption was (and still is) at its peak in Iran in summer and most of the country’s gas refineries have been undergoing annual overhaul.

Although consumption by the country’s power plants has also been at its peak over the past few weeks, gas has been fully supplied to them, eliminating the need to use liquid fuels, he added.

The official said Iran currently exports natural gas to Iraq and Turkey and is ready to provide any amount requested by the importers.

In June, NIGC Managing Director Hassan Montazer-Torbati announced that Iran’s annual natural gas exports to the neighboring countries increased by 3.6 billion cubic meters in the previous calendar year (which ended on March 19), registering a 26 percent rise year-on-year.

Commenting on the domestic gas industry’s new records in production, transmission, distribution and exports during the previous year, Montazer-Torbati said the unprecedented increase in the country’s natural gas exports was achieved despite the significant rise in domestic consumption.

In May, he said Iran’s long-term gas contracts would probably undergo essential changes in the aftermath of the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

The official said that Iran would introduce new pricing mechanisms in its gas export deals in the future, without elaborating on how they would work.