As President Masoud Pezeshkian’s 14th administration marks its second year, Iran’s oil and gas industry has faced war twice — first during the 12-day war and later in the third imposed war.
Critical facilities were damaged and part of the country’s gas production capacity was knocked offline. Yet the gas kept flowing, homes stayed warm and power plants and industries continued operating.
War does not always unfold on the battlefield. Sometimes its impact reaches refineries, pipelines and other vital infrastructure, where another battle begins away from public view. Iran’s oil and gas industry faced that test twice. In both conflicts, parts of the infrastructure were targeted, but the gas network had to remain stable. Homes needed heating, while power plants and industrial facilities could not afford a shutdown.
The 12-day war provided an experience that later became a valuable asset in managing a new crisis. The rapid restoration of damaged facilities at Fajr Jam Gas Refinery demonstrated that the time between an attack and the return of infrastructure to operation could be shortened through the country’s technical and operational capabilities.
That experience proved valuable during the third imposed war, when the damage was more extensive and four gas refineries in South Pars came under attack.
The 12-Day War: A Lesson for Tougher Days
During the third imposed war, part of Iran’s gas processing and sweet gas production capacity was taken offline — an incident that could have seriously disrupted the country’s energy supply chain.
But this time, the lessons learned during the 12-day war were combined with preparations made before the crisis. Iran’s oil and gas industry began responding to the consequences of the attacks from the earliest hours.
Saeid Tavakoli, managing director of the National Iranian Gas Co., said the industry relied on the valuable experience gained during the 12-day war and communication mechanisms established during that period to manage the gas supply crisis. Crisis-management headquarters held regular meetings and continuously followed up on decisions to prevent damage to gas refineries from disrupting the country’s gas supply.
Integrated management at the Oil Ministry also played a key role. Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad held daily meetings and continuously monitored developments from the first day of the war, taking measures aimed at preserving the stability of the energy supply chain.
For the public, the outcome of those efforts could perhaps be summed up in one sentence: The gas did not stop.
Behind those four words, however, were hours of work, decision-making, concern and determination by employees who worked under the most difficult circumstances to ensure the crisis did not reach people’s homes.
Keeping the Network Flowing Under Pressure
Maintaining gas supplies depended on more than refineries. The transmission network also had to continue operating without interruption despite damage to parts of the infrastructure.
Employees of the Iran Gas Transmission Co. relied on continuous maintenance, technical monitoring, operational drills and crisis-response exercises to prepare for such circumstances.
In one special operation, employees of the company’s third gas transmission operations district worked around the clock for three days to assist the National Iranian Oil Pipeline and Telecommunication Co. They carried out operations involving 1,140 meters of welding, pipe installation, radiography, coating and pipeline stabilization, helping ensure the continued transportation of petroleum products and preventing a fuel-supply crisis.
Peyman Khazaei, managing director of the Iran Gas Transmission Co., described those days as moments of courage, resilience and solidarity. The result, he said, was a sense of pride in seeing people’s homes remain lit.
Perhaps that image says more than any statistic: While people were worried about the safety of their homes, oil and gas workers remained at facilities and along transmission lines to keep daily life moving.
From Fajr Jam to South Pars
But resisting an attack was only the beginning. The experience at Fajr Jam Gas Refinery during the 12-day war demonstrated that once the immediate crisis passed, reconstruction had to begin quickly.
The same approach was adopted during the third imposed war, although the scale of the damage was greater.
Debris removal and damage assessments were among the first steps, while technical and engineering teams simultaneously began efforts to restore lost capacity. Short-term measures resulted in the return of about 30 million cubic meters per day of lost sweet gas production capacity to the system.
Paknejad has also announced that reconstruction of four damaged gas refineries in Asaluyeh is accelerating. He said debris removal had been completed, an implementation framework had been established and contractors had begun work.
About 95 million cubic meters per day of lost production capacity is expected to return to service by the end of September, he said.
These figures represent more than production capacity. Every cubic meter of gas restored to the system is also a sign that infrastructure damaged during the war is being brought back to life.
Now Comes the Task of Rebuilding
As part of the reconstruction effort, the National Iranian Gas Co. was given responsibility for fully rebuilding two gas refineries — a mission entrusted to the company at this scale for the first time.
The Iran Gas Engineering and Development Co., as the project’s executive arm, is pursuing the reconstruction of the damaged South Pars refineries. Adherence to schedules, reliance on domestic capabilities and cooperation among the project owner, contractors and operating companies have become key elements of the effort.
Gholamabbas Hosseini, managing director of South Pars Gas Complex, has described the reconstruction of damaged units as an effort based on the expertise of Iranian specialists and domestically manufactured equipment. The goal is to restore lost production capacity to the system.
The two wars have left Iran’s gas industry with two different but interconnected experiences: The 12-day war became a lesson in preparedness and reconstruction, while the third imposed war became a larger test of the industry’s ability to put those lessons into practice.
Yet between the two conflicts, one mission remained unchanged: ensuring a stable energy supply for the country’s various sectors and protecting people’s well-being.
Behind every light in every home, every operating power plant and every functioning factory stood a network that oil and gas workers refused to allow to stop during the most difficult days.
Now those same workers are confronting not the enemy’s attacks, but their aftermath — standing beside damaged facilities, among burned steel and disabled equipment, working to rebuild what was lost.
Two wars have been endured. But the lasting story of those days is not simply one of damaged facilities. It is the story of flames and lights that, despite the war, never went out.