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Iran to boost gas export — president

Natural gas reserves in Iran top 33 trillion cubic meters, which makes it the biggest player on the global gas market

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani at the plenary session of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum Alexei Druzhinin/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani at the plenary session of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum

© Alexei Druzhinin/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS

TEHRAN, November 23. /TASS/. Iran plans to boost production and export of natural gas in the nearest future, the country’s President Hassan Rouhani said at the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in Tehran on Monday.

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"In the nearest future Iran will boost gas output. Its domestic consumption and export will be growing due to declining share of oil in the total volume of energy resources being used and exported," Rouhani said.

For many years Iran’s potential for boosting capacities and introduction of new technologies in the gas extracting industry were limited by sanctions imposed against the Islamic Republic, the president said, adding that as sanctions are lifted and the nuclear agreement reached by Tehran and "the group of six" (5 permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) in July in Vienna is launched, new prospects are opening up for Iran in the development of gas fields and production of liquefied gas.

According to the country’s Petroleum Ministry, gas reserves in Iran top 33 trillion cubic meters, which makes it the biggest player on the global gas market. Currently, the Islamic Republic of Iran produces 173 bln cubic meters of gas per year while it plans to double production to 1.3 bln cubic meters per day by 2020.

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