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Gas find in Fars
Iran announced a major natural gas discovery in southern Fars Province, with Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad saying the field contains more than 7.5 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas and that about 5.7 Tcf could be recoverable based on a recovery factor of about 72%.
“more than 7.5 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas”
Paknejad said the recoverable gas volume is equivalent to the capacity needed to supply one phase of the South Pars gas field for around 15 years, and he described the gas as “sweet” gas that would reduce both the costs of field development and operating the field.
The announcement also said the field contains significant volumes of gas condensate, with Paknejad adding that it could bring “tens of billions of dollars of new wealth to the country.”
The discovery was framed as arriving amid US pressure, with The Statesman saying Washington was preparing a fresh economic offensive against Tehran as the announcement was made.
War-hit energy context
Kurdistan24 reported that Paknejad said the field contains more than 212 billion cubic meters of natural gas, with about 161 billion cubic meters (5.7 Tcf) estimated to be recoverable based on a recovery rate of more than 72 percent.
France 24 said the find came as Iran’s energy sector faced disruption after months of US-Israeli strikes on gas facilities, oil depots and transport routes, and it quoted Paknejad describing the gas as sweet natural gas with very little hydrogen sulphide.
The Statesman tied the gas announcement to parallel efforts to restore production capacity at damaged facilities in the South Pars gas field, citing SHANA reporting that recovery of production capacity at the Phase 14 refinery was 70 per cent complete and expected to be finished by the end of the Iranian calendar year.
In that same context, Pars Oil and Gas Company CEO Touraj Dehghani said reconstruction began after the refinery was hit during the “12-day war,” and he said three damaged trains returned to production in less than 10 days.
Sanctions and next steps
The Statesman reported that the announcement came ahead of another escalation in US economic pressure on Tehran, quoting US President Donald Trump describing an “Economic D-Day” campaign against Iran as the “most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country.”
““Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale””
The same article said Trump described the strategy as “Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale” and that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later said Washington would pursue what he described as the “toughest sanctions in history.”
Iran’s development plans were described as urgent in the coverage, with Paknejad telling state television on Sunday that the Islamic Republic plans to develop the resources “as soon as possible,” even as Bloomberg said any new production would likely be years away.
TeleSUR added that Paknejad underscored the urgent need to accelerate the field’s development to begin exploiting it as soon as possible and direct production to industry and other sectors with high energy consumption.