Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Iran ranked third among the world's largest natural gas producers by the end of 2017, according to the latest statistical report by British Petroleum (BP).

According to the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), based on the country's macroeconomic policy, the share of natural gas in the country's energy balance will increase due to its many advantages, such as environmental sustainability, distribution of social justice, etc.

Iran as the third largest gas producer in the world in recent years has focused on increasing its share in the global gas market.

Based on this policy, the country's gas production capacity has been on the agenda since the 2000s.

After the 1979 Islamic revolution, natural gas production in Iran increased from 89 billion cubic meters in 1979 to more than 3,75 billion cubic meters in 2018.

Regarding the implementation of gas processing development plans, provided that all development plans are put into operation by the end of the Sixth Development Plan until 2021, the total capacity of the NIGC gas processing plants will exceed 1,200 million cubic meters per day.

The latest BP survey shows that by the end of 2017, Iran ranked third in the world in natural gas production with more than 223 billion cubic meters of natural gas, having a 6.1 percent share of the global gas market.

Iran ranks first in the world in terms of mastering the largest gas reserves. With a total volume of 188 trillion cubic meters of natural gas reserves in the world, 34 trillion cubic meters refers to Iran’s recognized reserves, representing 18 percent of the total world reserves, 51 percent of the Middle East’s total reserves, and 40 percent of the total natural gas reserves of the oil-exporting countries (OPEC). Iran’s gas reserves are located in gas fields, oil fields, along with oil.

The National Iranian Gas Company is one of the most reputable companies in the world in the field of gas industry and the head of the Iranian gas industry founded in 1966.

The main objectives of this company are an optimal use of natural gas. as the main factor in the country development, ensuring the welfare of the population, industrial development, and protecting the environment, the protection of natural gas as a national capital, and daily increasing its share in the composition of the energy used species in the country.

Currently, more than 73,000 Iranian industrial units provide their energy needs with gas, and more than 70 percent of the rural and 95 percent of the urban population is covered by a gas supply network. More than 800 million cubic meters of natural gas is produced daily in Iran, which is used in petrochemical complexes, power plants, domestic industries, for entry into producing oil wells, in the domestic sector, as well as for export to neighboring countries and for global markets.

The South Pars gas field is one of the common Iranian fields with its neighbors, and the world's largest purely gas field, which is located in the border area between Iran and Qatar in the waters of the Persian Gulf. This oil and gas field is capable of providing the necessary energy for 10 percent of the total population of the planet.

Iran is among the countries that have many common oil and gas fields with neighboring countries. From the number of 28 common oil and gas fields of Iran with its neighbors, 18 fields are oil, 4 - gas, and 6 - both have oil and gas. So there are common oil fields with Iran and Kuwait, Qatar, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Turkmenistan. Some of Iran’s common gas fields with neighboring countries are the Salman (with Saudi Arabia), Mobarak (with the UAE), Hengam (with Oman), Farsi (with Saudi Arabia), Gunbadli (with Turkmenistan) and South Pars (with Qatar) fields .

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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