National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) is planning to increase natural gas exports to 200 million cubic meters per day from the current 60 mcm/d by 2021, said the company’s managing director.
Hamidreza Araqi further said neighboring countries are Iran’s priority for gas exports, adding construction of gas pipelines as well as sales of LNG are among NIGC’s considerations for gas exports, reported Fars News Agency.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said that for Iran, export of gas is an economic necessity and it is also of political and security significance for the country. Its exports earns the country revenues and leads to employment, he pointed out.
The minister further stated that Oil Ministry is considering export of LNG given the fact that the country holds the world’s largest natural gas reserves.
“However, exports would be considered only after meeting domestic gas demands as well as feeding local petrochemical plants and steel industries,” he added.