Iran finds huge gas field in Caspian Sea

TEHRAN, Dec. 12(MNA) - Iran discovered a large gas field in the Caspian Sea with at least 50 trillion cubic feet (some 1.4 trillion cubic meters) of reserves, Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi announced on Sunday. The field, in waters 700 meters deep, lies wholly within Iran’s territorial waters, Qasemi explained. He added excluding this new discovery Iran has 11 trillion cubic meters of proven gas reserves in the Caspian Sea. Mohsen Khojaste-Mehr told that extensive operations are underway to explore new gas deposits across the country which will probably increase the country’s proven gas reserves. The Fifth Five-Year Development Plan (2010-2015) has envisaged boosting the country’s gas production by 250 million cubic meters per day to reach 1.4 billion cubic meters per day. A National Iranian Oil Company director has stated that the country’s natural gas reserves will last up to 100 years. Iran holds the world’s second-largest gas reserves, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy in June. Russia has the biggest reserves of the fuel, BP data show. Oil Minister Qasemi also announced that Iran is now the sole country in the region which has found access to the technology to drill wells in deep waters.