Iran Discovers New Natural Gas Reserves

Tehran. Amid ongoing tension in West Asia, Iran has announced the discovery of new natural gas reserves with a capacity of more than 200 billion cubic meters.

Iran's Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad announced on Sunday through state television that new gas reserves have been found in the southern province of Fars. According to him, more than 160 billion cubic meters of the gas in that area is extractable. Paknejad estimates that more than 280 million cubic meters, or about 1 billion cubic feet, of natural gas can be produced daily from this gas field for 15 years. This amount is quite low compared to Iran's daily natural gas consumption. The new reserves have been described as 'clean natural gas' because the amount of toxic gas called hydrogen sulfide is very low. Minister Paknejad said this will reduce operation and development costs. According to Bloomberg, commercial production of gas from the area may still take a few years. Iran's energy sector has been affected by the ongoing war since the United States and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran at the end of February. The attack damaged gas production centers, oil storage facilities, and transportation routes. In July, a senior Iranian government official said that due to the war, the daily gas production capacity, which had decreased to 230 million cubic meters, would be restored to 100 million cubic meters within the next few months. Although Tehran is repairing damaged structures, US sanctions appear to be increasing pressure on the economy. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced at a press conference on Monday that preparations are being made to announce the strictest sanctions in history against Iran.