TEHRAN - Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has said Iran plans to boost its share of the global gas trade from currently one percent by tenfold to reach ten percent.

“For the time being, we are making attempt to reach regional markets. We have set a target of ten percent of the global gas market,” Zanganeh said in a press conference in Tehran on Tuesday.

Iran now produces about 600 million cubic meters of gas per day.

The minister said Iran also aims to nearly double gas production to reach one billion cubic meters (bcm) per day in less than two and a half years.

To this end, all phases of the South Pars gas field, except for the phase 14, will come on stream, he noted.

South Pars field, which Iran shares with Qatar in the Persian Gulf, is estimated to contain a significant amount of natural gas, accounting for about eight percent of the world’s reserves.

With its 34 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, Iran has the biggest gas reserves in the world.

“Thanks to the world’s largest gas reserves, our share of the global gas market is growing more and more,” the minister highlighted.

He also said Iran is the only country in the world that near ninety percent of its population enjoy natural gas network.

*** Neighboring countries, main destination markets

Elsewhere in his remarks, Zanganeh said Iran attaches priority to neighboring countries for exporting natural gas.

“We have already signed gas export contracts with Iraq and Pakistan. Moreover, we intend to export gas even to the Iraqi Kurdistan region, Afghanistan, and Persian Gulf countries,” the minister added.

He said Iran has signed two contracts to export over 50 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas per day to Iraq.

“Regarding the export of LNG, we attach priority to the Asian markets and then to the European ones,” Zanganeh stated.

“We surely need foreign investment for the implementation of LNG projects in the country,” he added.

*** GECF meeting to host seven presidents

Zanganeh went on to say that the presidents of Bolivia, Russia, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Venezuela, and Iraq, as well as the prime minister of Algeria will attend the third GECF summit meeting in Tehran on November 23.

“Also, the president of Turkmenistan will participate as a guest in the event. Therefore, taking Iran’s president into account, the third summit will host the highest ever number of heads of state,” he added.

The second meeting in Russia was attended by six heads of state and the first meeting in Qatar was participated by four heads of state, the minister mentioned.

*** CECF owns 70% of world’s gas reserves

Zanganeh remarked that the GECF member states account for nearly 70 percent of the world’s gas reserves, 45 percent of the global gas output, about 85 percent of LNG production, and nearly 40 percent of pipeline trade.

GECF is a gathering of the world’s leading gas producers and was set up as international governmental organization with the objective to increase the level of coordination and strengthen the collaboration among member countries.

The member countries of the forum are Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. Iraq, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman and Peru have the status of observer members.

MA/M