Opportunity Cost of Various Iranian Natural Gas Consumption with Emphasis on Gas Injection in to Oil Reservoirs

Gas injection is assumed as one of the main methods of improving oil recovery in Iranian oil fields. So it's necessary that considerable portion of natural gas produced to be injected into oil reservoirs within next years. gas allocation to various applications will create different opportunity costs. Specifying net benefit function, different opportunity costs are determined in comparison of gas injection during 2006-2031.
The results of this study show that the "increasing pressure" scenario of oil reservoirs is prior to the scenario of gas injection to keep the present pressure of oil reservoirs (continuity of current and anticipated situation of gas injection). Discount rate is a major role in selecting the priorities of gas resource allocation in Iran. At low discount rate, gas injection has prior to gas export while at high discount rate gas injection loses its absolute preference to gas export.
Absences of compressive energy policy and steady growth of energy consumption specifically in end-user sections would cause the negative gas balance. In this condition gas injection to oil fields would not possible appropriate the oil field necessity for keeping pressure and gas export reveals high opportunity cost.
JEL Classification: O53, O13, N75