Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 31
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Iran plans to boost its gas exports by six fold to 66 billion cubic meters.
National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) managing director Hamid Reza Araqi said the volume of gas exports will be increased from the current 10 billion cubic meters to 66 billion cubic meters by the end of the 6th national development plan (2020), Iran's Shana news agency reported on August 31.
Based on the plan, the country's gas production capacity will be boosted from the currently 500 million cubic meters per day to one billion cubic meters, he noted.
Some 60 trillion rials (about $1.75 billion) have been allocated to supply gas to cities and villages nationwide, he added.
The director of international affairs at the NIGC Azizollah Ramezani said on August 1 that Iran is studying economical and operational conditions for choosing the most economic and the most secure way to export gas to Europe.
However, the first priority is to export gas to neighboring countries, especially to the Gulf nations, he noted.
Iran has the long-term potential to become one of the world's top gas producers, thanks to its 34 trillion cubic meters of natural gas reserves, or around 18 percent of the world's total, Fitch Ratings said in a report on July 10.
Edited by CN