Iran will be able to produce 385 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually by 2021, much of which will be exported to India, China, and Europe, head of National Iranian Gas Company said.
Hamidreza Araqi, who also is a deputy oil minister, says the present gas production equals six million barrels per day, Oil Price reported. According to the plan, Iran’s daily gas output will reach 1.05 bcm/d in five years.
Currently, Iran’s gas output is around 450 million cubic meters per day, of which 35 mcm/d are flared, which practically means they are wasted, and 90 mcm/d are injected back into oil wells to keep the levels of current production.
Araqi noted that some waste-reduction efforts will result in a 120-million-cubic- meter increase in the daily volume of gas available for export. The NIGC deputy for international affairs Azizollah Ramezani also said that Iran will start exporting gas to Iraq next month, under a recently-approved joint plan of action.
Over the next five years, Iran will supply gas to its neighbors for the most part, all of it by pipeline. By 2021, annual exports would reach 68-80 billion cubic meters.
Of this amount, 50 bcm will be sold to neighbors and 30 bcm –in best-case scenario–to the European Union.
"Presently 10 out of the 15 neighboring countries have the capacity to import Iranian gas and export to India and China is on the agenda. Meanwhile, prospects for exporting gas to Japan and South Korea are under review and should be possible after the completion of a liquefied natural gas production unit,” Ramezani said without elaboration.
Tehran has contracts with Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey to export gas, but the lion’s share of exports goes to Turkey. The combined amount agreed for exports to the three countries is 126 mcm/d.
