Tehran, Iran, June 21
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
The inauguration of new South Pars phases in four years will not only fulfill Iran's domestic need for gas, it will enable the country to export 200 mcm/d of the product, Azizollah Ramezani, Director of International Affairs of the National Iranian Gas Company said.
He announced Iran is holding talks and making plans for export from now, SHANA news agency reported June 21.
Talks have been held with Afghanistan since last year and they are hoped to yield result soon, the official stated.
Ramezani had previously said having the world's biggest gas reserves, Iran can export 25 to 30 billion cubic meters of gas per annum to Europe.
The Islamic Republic has two gas trade deals with Iraq, one agreement with Pakistan and one memorandum of understanding with Oman that add up to a total of 120 million cubic meters per day (mcm/d) of natural gas exported to these countries.
Tehran is evaluating other markets like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as well as Europe, and has signed preliminary agreements on gas export with the UAE.
Earlier Alireza Kameli, managing director of the National Iranian Gas Exports Company (NIGC) said that the country will capitalize on growing production from South Pars to add 150 mcm of gas per day to its export capacity in coming years, adding Iran could export gas to Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
Iran holds 33.8 trillion cubic meters of proven natural gas reserves- or 18.2 percent of the world's total proven reserves.
The South Pars is a joint gas field of Iran and Qatar. The field on the Iranian side holds 14 trillion cubic meters of gas and has been divided into 29 phases, Phases 1 to 8 have been developed completely, Phases 9 and 10 has been operated, but not to full capacity and Phases 11 to 29 are under construction.
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