*Article* **Optimal Allocation of Gas Resources to Different Consumption Sectors Using Multi-Objective Goal Programming**

**Ieva Meidute-Kavaliauskiene 1,\*, Vida Davidaviciene 1, Shahryar Ghorbani <sup>2</sup> and Iman Ghasemian Sahebi <sup>3</sup>**


**Abstract:** Natural gas is a main source of energy in Iran, and optimal allocation to different sectors is crucial, based on realities, geopolitical considerations, and national security concerns. In this paper, a multi-objective goal programming model is developed to study the optimal allocation of this resource to various consumption sectors, including household business, industry, petrochemical industry, power plants, injection to oil fields, and export from Iran for the horizon of 2025. In this research, the energy security index is prioritized over other indicators. Two objective functions are considered: the first is maximizing the energy security index (minimizing the cost of energy security), and the second is minimizing the relative weight of different consumption sectors. The goal share of the various gas sectors, the amount of consumption of the various consumption sectors, and the allocatable and predicted amount for each year is calculated. Household business, power plants, petrochemical industries, industry, and export aid injection to oil fields are the most consuming sectors in 2025, respectively. Also, based on cost minimization, power plants, petrochemical industries, and industries in general are the more consuming sectors, respectively.

**Keywords:** natural gas; multi-objective; goal programming; optimization; allocation
