Azerbaijan, Baku, Jun.26/ Trend F.Karimov/
Despite the fact that Iran holds the world's biggest helium reserves in the South Pars gas field, but the country imports it from Russia, the Mehr News Agency reported.
Last year, Iranian oil minister Rostam Qasemi instructed four main subsidiaries of the oil ministry to prepare a comprehensive plan for identifying and extracting helium reserves from the South Pars. But, the plan has been shelved due to a lack of funds and proper technology.
Meanwhile, Qatar is extracting some 25 million cubic meters of helium per year from the South Pars gas field, which is associated with Iran. Qatar plans to double the extraction of helium to 50 mcm by the end of the year.
The South Pars gas field holds the largest reserves of helium in the world, accounting for 28 percent of total reserves. Russia and the U.S. are the next major holders of helium reserves.
The South Pars gas field covers an area of 9,700 square kilometers, 3,700 square kilometers of which are in Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf.
The remaining 6,000 square kilometers, i.e. North Dome, are in Qatar's territorial waters.
The Iranian gas field contains 14 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, about eight percent of the world's reserves, and more than 18 billion barrels of LNG resources.
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