Iran announces discovery of 13 trillion cubic feet of gas reserve

Iran announced the discovery of a new natural gas reserve in the south of Fars province in southern Iran with an estimated capacity of 19 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. According to the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), the field is located 200 kilometres to the south of Shiraz, 60 km to the north of Assaluyeh and 25 km to the east of Khonj County, and stretches some 50 kilometres with an average width of 5 km.

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Hints at discovering more oil and gas reserves

NIOC claimed that 13 trillion cubic feet of the newly found natural gas reserve are recoverable. NIOC Deputy Managing Director Reza Dehghan, at a press conference, hinted at discovering more oil and gas reserves in the coming days using geophysical exploration techniques and discovery drilling. The exploration department of NIOC said the field was discovered after years of serious endeavours by Iranian experts in Eram District in Fars Province. “Experimental results show that the field should contain quality gas,” said NIOC.

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China’s state oil company withdrawal

Despite severe sanctions on Iran’s oil export by the United States, Iran has been continuously exploring gas reserve to increase productivity. On October 6, China’s state oil company withdrew from a $5 billion deal which was aimed at developing a portion of Iran's massive offshore natural gas field. The South Pars field deal, a tripartite deal signed in 2017, was struck between China National Petroleum Company (CNPC), Iranian PetroPars, and France's Total SA but the French company had already pulled out of the deal in 2018 after US President Donald Trump announced sanctions on Iran. 

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Trump's placing more sanctions

Recently, Trump had called on the countries around the world to bring more sanctions on Iran and to tighten the noose around Iran’s economy. Trump, at the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), had said that no responsible country should subsidize Iran’s 'blood lust'.

"We must stop Iran's path to nuclear weapons, hence I dropped out of the nuclear deal,” he had said. “The regime's record of death and destruction is well known to us all. Not only is Iran the world's number one state sponsor of terrorism, but Iran's leaders are fuelling the tragic wars in both Syria and Yemen. And at the same time, the regime is squandering the nation's wealth and future in a fanatical quest for nuclear weapons,” Trump had lambasted Iran.

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(With Inputs from Agencies)