The National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) was established in 1965 as one of the four principal

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether natural, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specifi ...

affiliated to the Ministry of Petroleum of the

Islamic Republic of Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

with 25,000 million

Rials Rial, riyal, or RIAL may refer to: * Rial (surname), a surname (and list of people with the name) * Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning, McGill University * Rial Racing, a former German Formula One team Currency Various currencies ...

initial capital. NIGC is responsible for the treatment, transmission, and delivery of

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

to the domestic, industrial, and commercial sectors and

power plants A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many power ...

. The National Iranian Gas Exports Company (NIGEC) was created in 2003 to manage and to supervise all gas pipeline and LNG projects. Until May 2010, NIGEC was under the control of the NIOC, but the Petroleum Ministry transferred NIGEC, incorporating it under NIGC in an attempt to broaden responsibility for new natural gas projects. As at 2012, 12,750 villages have been connected to gas network. NIGC does not play a role in awarding upstream gas projects; that task remains in the hands of the

National Iranian Oil Company The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC; ) is a government-owned national oil and natural gas producer and distributor under the direction of the Ministry of Petroleum of Iran. NIOC was established in 1951 and restructured under The Consorti ...

. Iran has the largest gas network in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

with of high-pressure pipelines.

Main subsidiaries

The NIGC subsidiaries are: Natural gas infrastructure

* Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company * Iranian Gas Transmission Company * Iranian Underground Gas Storage Company * Iranian Gas Distribution Company * Iranian Gas Commerce Company * National Iranian Gas Export Company * Provincial Gas Companies * Gas Refining Companies

Technology

Iran is able to produce all the parts needed for its gas refineries. Iran plans to export its first

LNG Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volume o ...

cargo by 2013. Iran is expected to launch its first gas to liquids (GTL) plant by 2018.

Development

In 2011, Iran’s net export of gas in 2010 was 1.57 billion cubic metres. In 2010, Iran’s exports and imports of natural gas were 8.42 and 6.85 billion cubic metres respectively. In 2010, Iran exported 0.4, 0.25, and 7.77 billion cubic metres of gas to Armenia, Azerbaijan and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

respectively. In terms of imports, Iran has received 0.35 and 6.5 billion cubic metres from Azerbaijan and

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

respectively. Iran has approximately 29.6 trillion cubic meters of proven gas reserves which accounts for 16% of the world’s total reserves. This places Iran behind Russia with the second largest gas reserves worldwide. In 2009, Iran’s natural gas production stood at 116 billion cubic metres. In 2010, this number rose to 138.5 billion cubic metres which shows a 19% increase. Iran plans to boost its natural gas production by 200 million cubic meters until March 2016. Most of Iran’s gas is consumed domestically and has been increasing at an average annual rate of 12% for the past 15 years. Iran is seeking to reach a capacity of one million bpd of

GTL GTL may refer to: Organisations * GTL Ltd, an Indian network service provider * Georgia Tech Lorraine, a campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Metz, France * Glenvale Transport, an English bus company * Global Tel Link, an American te ...

-derived gasoline within the next decade. In 2011, Iran signed a contract worth $10 billion with Baghdad and Damascus in order to export Iran’s gas to

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, the Mediterranean region and eventually Europe. It is estimated that in the next three to four years there will be an excess production of 200-250 million cubic metres of gas in the

South Pars gas field The South Pars/North Dome field is a natural-gas condensate field located in the Persian Gulf. It is by far the world's largest natural gas field, IEA, World Energy Outlook 2008 - Chapter 12 - Natural gas resources and production prospects, p.29 ...

, the largest worldwide gas field located in

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

. The

liquefied natural gas Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volume o ...

(LNG) storage facility built in 2014 and named "Shourijeh" can supply 4.8 billion cubic metres of natural gas and aims to reduce gas imports from Turkmenistan.

References

External links

NIGC Official Website

- Iran's entry

- Brief 2002 study {{authority control Gas Exporting Countries Forum Government agencies established in 1965 Government-owned companies of Iran Oil and gas companies of Iran Iranian companies established in 1965 Energy companies established in 1965

Main subsidiaries

Technology

Development

See also

References

External links