Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec.13 /Trend, A.Yusifzade /
Iran's oil reserves have reached over 150 billion barrels, Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr, Iranian Deputy Oil Minister, was quoted by Mehr, as saying.
Earlier, Iranian Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi said that a new oilfield had been discovered in southern Iran, increasing the country's proven oil reserves up to 150.31 billion barrels.
He also announced about discovering a new gas field called Sefid (white) in Iran's southern province of Hormozgan, saying that the field contains 70 billion cubic meters of gas, 72 percent of which can be exploited.
"The country's oil and gas reserves have been reassessed for the last six months. According to the latest studies, the country's oil reserves have reached 150.31 billion barrels; natural gas reserves 33.1 trillion cubic meters, SHANA news agency quoted Mirkazemi, as saying.
He said that exploration efforts would be continued to discover new fields, adding that the volume of the country's reserves will definitely increase by the end of the Iranian calendar year in March 2011.
Iran is the world's third-largest oil producer. In 2009, Iran's crude production stood at 3.8 million bpd.
The Persian Gulf country also sits on the world's second-largest gas deposits.
The oil ministry plans to annually add 2.5 billion barrels of oil and 630 billion cubic meters of gas to Iran's hydrocarbon resources within the country's Fifth Development Plan (2010-2015).
By taking these measures Iran will remain the holder of the biggest joint oil and gas resources in the world, and the second largest oil producer among OPEC countries.