Over the past two days, the demand for natural gas has increased in the country
In accordance with this requirement, the Azerigaz Production Association (SOCAR’s gas distribution structure) was forced to increase the supply of gas to the distribution network covering the needs of the population.
Ruslan Aliyev, general director of the PA, announced this on his Facebook page.
According to him, if on March 13, 2020, the population was supplied with 18.6 million cubic meters of gas, then this year on the same day already 34 mcm.
The general director of Azerigaz explains this by the cold weather in the first month of spring.
So, as of March 13, 2020, this figure is about 293.3 mcm, and this year – about 393.2 mcm. So, although March is considered the spring season, it is actually observed as a winter month in 2021.
Answering a question from a Turan agency correspondent about the total demand for natural gas in Azerbaijan, the Azerigaz general director said that in January-February 2021, there was an increase in consumption in the population category, and a decrease in consumption of blue fuel in the non-population categories.
“This is due to two factors: firstly, this year the winter was more severe than last year, and secondly, during the quarantine period, commercial and government structures worked in a limited mode and consumed less gas. The population was mostly at home and needed heat more than before,” explained the country’s chief gas worker.
According to him, in January-February of this year, gas consumption in Azerbaijan amounted to 2 billion 49.1 million cubic meters. Of this volume, only 13.3% or 273 mcm fell on the non-population category, and 1 billion 776.1 million cubic meters fell on the population.
In January-February 2020, gas consumption in the country amounted to 2 billion 13.3 million cubic meters, of which 335.7 mcm accounted for the non-population, and 1 billion 677.6 million cubic meters – for the population.
Thus, compared to the same period last year, the total gas consumption in Azerbaijan increased by 35.8 mcm. At the same time, the population increased consumption by 98.5 mcm, while the non-population categories saw a decrease in volumes by 62.7 mcm.
The general director of Azerigaz added that these volumes do not include the consumption of power engineers.
It should be noted that only natural gas is used to generate electricity at the country’s thermal power plants, and according to the Statistics Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan, in the first two months of 2021, 95% of the generated energy fell to the share of thermal power plants. In general, the share of power engineers in the total gas consumption is about 50%.
On March 12-13, snowfall was observed throughout the country, the temperature dropped by 5-10 degrees compared to previous days. For safety reasons, SOCAR carried out a partial evacuation of oil workers working on offshore platforms.
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