NIOC values new gas field at $40b
Iran has estimated the intrinsic value of a newly discovered gas field in Fars province at $40 billion, the exploration director of the National Iranian Oil Company said, describing the field as one of the country’s most significant gas discoveries in the past two decades.
Mohieddin Jafari said the field is located 10 km northwest of Khonj and about 35 km from the older Shanul and Homa gas fields, Mehr news agency reported.
Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said on Sunday that Iran had discovered a natural gas field in south of Fars Province with more than 7.5 trillion cubic feet (212 billion cubic meters) of gas in place.
He said the field holds approximately 5.7 trillion cubic feet (161 billion cubic meters) of recoverable gas.
The minister described the discovery as equivalent to 15 years of production from one phase of South Pars, the world’s largest gas field, which Iran shares with Qatar.
Jafari said on Monday that the gas at the Takht-e field is sweet and does not require a sweetening process, allowing it to follow a shorter route through development and processing than sour gas fields.
Natural gas is not only a hydrocarbon product for Iran’s economy, but a continuous flow extending from households and power plants to industries and production units. As a result, increasing raw gas production while domestic consumption, industrial demand and field development requirements are all rising simultaneously is among the most challenging tasks facing the oil industry.
Gas output sets records
The National Iranian Oil Company has reported a significant increase in raw gas production over the past two years.
Average daily production in the winter of 2025 increased by 35 million cubic meters from a year earlier, while a new record was set in February 2026, with production 16 million cubic meters above the previous year’s record, according to a report by ISNA.
Monthly production also increased by about 41 million cubic meters in 2025 from 2024 and rose again in January 2026.
A large share of the increase came from the South Pars joint field, which reached a record 729.6 million cubic meters per day in December 2025. In addition, new wells in the Dey, Varavi, Aghar, Dalan, Tous and Khartang fields were brought online.
However, an attack on four South Pars refineries in March 2026 cut production by 250 million cubic meters, although technical measures restored much of the lost capacity.
Officials have emphasized that despite sanctions and equipment restrictions, Iran’s gas industry has maintained its resilience and increased production capacity.