Iran Claims Major Gas Discovery: Update
(Adds information on field's location and reserves)
Iran has discovered a major gas field in the country’s southern region, the National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC)’s head of exploration, Saleh Hendi, told the local Fars news agency on October 9.
The deposit was found at a depth of 3,900 metres, according to Hendi. NIOC later said on October 13 that the discovery had been made near the southern city of Shiraz, and contained 19 trillion ft3 of gas, of which 13 trillion ft3 (382bn m3) was recoverable, as well as 385mn barrels of condensate. According to Hendi, the field is large enough to cover gas demand in Iran’s capital Tehran for 16 years.
Official documents of NIOC obtained by NGW show that the city consumed 23.8bn m3 of gas in the fiscal year ending March 21, suggesting Hendi was referring to the field's recoverable resources of 382bn m3.
Iran’s largest offshore gas project is South Pars, which it shares with Qatar. The Iranian section holds 14 trillion m3 of gas and was responsible for three-fourths of the country’s 260bn m3 of gas production in the last fiscal year. Other major fields are Farzad-B and Kish, both undeveloped but holding 580bn m3 and 1.4 trillion m3 of in-place gas respectively.
Iran has 31.9 trillion m3 of proven gas reserves, according to BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy.