20 percent increase in extractions from South Pars joint gas field: Official

Hassani said that the complex gained a total of 5.6 billion dollars equal to 220,000 billion rials during the time.

According to the official, the giant gas field which was inaugurated in 1994 to meet 3 percent of the country’s needs for gas now accounts for 63.7 percent of Iran’s total gas production.

Once the development projects underway are completed by 2019, the figure will grow to 80 percent thus providing for 60 percent of the country’s energy basket, the official added.

The managing director further noted that the South Pars Gas Complex will soon outdo the British Petroleum by producing five million barrels of gas condensates.

He said environment protection issues are of prime importance for the complex.

The South Pars field, which is shared by Iran and Qatar in the Persian Gulf, contains 14,000 billion cubic meters of gas, 8% of the world's known reserves.

1424**1771