International attention has focused on Iran’s efforts to bring foreign investment into its oil and gas sector, but Tehran has been significantly ramping up gas output by itself. The bulk of expanded capacity is from the South Pars gas field, where officials say output has grown from around 14.8bn cfd in January 2016 to 18.4bn cfd currently. This implies total current Iranian gas output is now around 28bn cfd. However, this figure – which would equate to 290bcm if maintained for a year – overstates the true picture as it includes output which is subsequently reinjected.
Domestic consumption was around 190bcm in 2015, the latest year for which figures are available; it likely topped 200bcm last year with further strong demand growth likely. (CONTINUED - 2110 WORDS)
