Iran opens largest gas storage facility in Middle East

Iran has opened the largest gas storage facility in the Middle East in the north-eastern province of Razavi Khorasan.

The facility, dubbed Shourijeh, is situated 25km south-east of Sarakhs in north-western Iran.

It can supply 20 million cubic metres of gas per day in winter and increase Iran’s gas delivery capacity to ten million cubic metres of gas per day in phase one.

Approximately seven million cubic metres of gas per day is currently being injected to the facility, which is capable of storing around 4.8 billion cubic metres of natural gas.

The facility will transfer gas to provinces such as North Khorassan, Khorassan Razavi, Mazandaran, Gilan and Ardebil, located in north, north-east and north-western parts of Iran.

Iran is planning to increase its natural gas production by 200 million cubic metres by March 2016 in order to stop importing gas from neighboring countries.

The country has several of the largest deposits of natural gas in the world, with an expected 33 trillion cubic metres of gas reserves.

The country’s first gas storage facility was inaugurated in the central province of Qom in early January.

The former managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) Javad Owji said in November 2012 that the Islamic Republic aims to set up 40 gas storage plants in the future.

NIGC intends to enhance Iran’s current share in the total global gas trade to reach 8%.

The country’s gas refineries’ capacity, which is currently around 540 million cubic metres of gas per day, is expected to reach 900 million cubic metres of gas per day in the future.

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Image: The Shourijeh facility is capable of storing around 4.8 billion cubic metres of natural gas. Photo: courtesy of National Iranian Gas Company.