Azerbaijan, Baku, Jun.8/ Trend F.Milad/
Iran will be able to export as much as 180 million cubic meters (mcm) of natural gas per day by 2016, the managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company Javad Owji said, Shana news agency reported.
Owji said that 12 phases of the South Pars gas field will be developed by 2016, of which four phases will exclusively produce LNG.
He added that some $150 billion is needed to be invested each year by 2016 to reach the goal.
Iran has attached the priority on boosting gas production capacity from its joint oilfields with Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Oil Minster Rostam Qasemi said.
Iran sits on the world's second largest natural gas reserves after Russia and is trying to grow its gas production by increasing foreign and domestic investments, especially in its South Pars gas field.
The field is shared by Iran and Qatar. The Iranian share, which is divided into 29 phases, has about 14 trillion cubic meters of gas, or about eight percent of the total world reserves, and more than 18 billion barrels of liquefied natural gas resources.