Iran produced 192.5bn cu/m of natural gas in 2015, up 5.7 per cent from 182bn cu/m in 2014, BP reported in its June 2016 Statistical Review of World Energy

A senior official at the state-owned National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) said in May 2016 that Iran wanted to raise its gas exports to around 350mn cu/m per day – the equivalent of 128bn cu/m per year – in the medium term, with future buyers set to include a number of countries in Europe.

Iran, which sits on the world’s largest gas reserves, intends to enhance gas production by increasing foreign and domestic investment, especially in its South Pars gas field.

South Pars gas field, which Iran shares with Qatar in the Gulf, is estimated to contain a significant amount of natural gas, accounting for about eight per cent of the world’s reserves, and approximately 18bn barrels of condensate.

The offshore field covers an area of 9,700 sq km, 3,700 sq km of which are in Iran’s territorial waters. The remaining 6,000 sq km are situated in Qatar’s territorial waters.

According to Iran’s Azernews, BP has also expressed readiness to invest in development of certain Iranian oilfields, Rokneddin Javadi, deputy oil minister, said.

Talks with BP are also underway for cooperation in oilfields’ development, boosting recovery rate at old fields and research projects, Javadi, who heads the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), added.

BP and NIOC jointly share the Rhum gas field in the North Sea with an equal share distribution of 50 per cent. Operations were suspended at the field in November 2010 after the EU introduced sanctions against Iran.

According to the estimates provided by BP, the Rhum field contains 22.6bn cu/m of gas and accounts for about four per cent of the UK’s annual gas production.

Since the sanctions were lifted in January this year, Iran has increased the crude oil export to 2.2mn bpd aiming to redeem its previous place in the world market.

Iran’s oil output also reached 3.5mn bpd in April 2016, according to the OPEC.