Azerbaijan, Baku, July 14 / Trend, T.Jafarov /
Iranian National Gas Export Company (NGEC) has been liquidated by a decision of the Iranian Oil Ministry, MEHR news agency reported on Saturday.
According to the decision, the functions on gas export via pipelines are transferred to state companies, on commercial gas sales and export of liquefied gas - to international department of the oil company.
This decision is due to a decrease in sales volumes of Iranian gas to the world markets.
Daily gas production in Iran is about 600 million cubic meters, and in future this figure will increase up to 1.2 billion cubic meters. According to the National Iranian Gas Company, the country's oil reserves hit 10 percent of the world reserves, and natural gas reserves - 16 percent.
At present Iran produces 110 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Due to its inability to keep up with domestic demand, the country increased imports of "blue fuel" from Turkmenistan in 2010.
The South Pars project, which provides for half of gas reserves in Iran, consists of 28 phases, 10 of which has been completed, 18 are under development.
Qatar and Iran control the South Pars field with an area of 9700 sq. km. Unlike Iran, Qatar has advanced in developing the field, while Iran faced international sanctions.