Energy consumption in Iran has doubled in the past decade, said Managing Director of Iran's Energy Productivity Organization Abdolreza Karbasi in Tehran on Sunday, IRNA reported.

Addressing a meeting on Necessity of Energy Management in Iran and the Role of the Energy Services and Consultative Organizations, Karbasi noted that energy consumption in Iran stands at 705 million barrels of oil annually, thus making optimal consumption of energy unavoidable.

Karbasi said natural gas was incorporated into Iran's energy basket since 1990, leading to a fall in consumption of other energy resources.

The official said that Iranian power plants' energy generation capacity rose to about 29,000 megawatts in 2001 from 7,000 megawatts in 1979.