Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug.25/ Trend F.Milad/
Iran's natural gas exports will reach 60 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year by the end of the fifth five-year development plan (March 2016) through expanding capacities in production, refining, and transportation sections, National Iranian Gas Company's managing director Javad Owji said.
Presently, Iran exports some 30bcm of natural gas annually to Turkey, Armenia, Nakhichevan, Iraq, and Pakistan, the Shana News Agency reported.
Iran plans to raise gas exports to 230 million cubic meters per day by 2025, aiming to boost its share in global gas exports to 16 percent from current one percent.
Deputy Director of the National Iranian Gas Company Mostafa Kashkouli said in February that Iran plans to build diverging pipelines for exporting gas to Syria, Iraq and European countries.
Building diverging pipelines for the export of gas to Syria, Iraq and Europe has been added to the National Iranian Gas Company's agenda, Kashkouli said.
Kashkouli said infrastructures for distributing and developing gas exports have been made available in the country, adding that at present there are 34,000 kilometers of a pipeline for a strong flow of gas out of Iran.
Iran, ranking second on the largest natural gas reserves in the world, is making efforts to boost its gas production by increasing foreign and domestic investments, especially in its South Pars gas field.
The South Pars gas 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.