Iran Unveils Giant New Natural Gas Reserve Amid Energy Sector Disruption
Iran's energy sector has received a significant boost with the announcement of a new large natural gas reserve in the southern Fars province. According to Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad, the discovered field has the potential to extract about 5.7 trillion cubic meters of natural gas.
The minister described the discovered gas as 'sweet gas', containing low amounts of hydrogen sulfide, a toxic compound. This characteristic could lead to lower operating and development costs for the field.
Paknejad also stated that the recoverable reserves would be enough to power one phase of the huge South Pars gas field for about 15 years. Iran currently possesses the second largest proven natural gas reserves in the world, with around 1,200 trillion cubic meters, accounting for approximately 16% of global reserves.
The discovery follows another significant announcement from Fars province last year, when Iranian authorities declared that they had discovered about 10 trillion cubic meters of natural gas in the Pazan field. However, according to Bloomberg, gas production from this field is not expected to start anytime soon and it could take several years before the new reserves turn into significant production.