Entitled as Eram, the gas field is estimated to hold 19 trillion cubic feet (540 bcm) of natural gas in its reserve, of which 13 tcf (382 bcm) is recoverable, according to Shana.

The field is located 200 kilometers to the south of Shiraz, 60 km to the north of Assaluyeh and 25 km to the east of Khonj County, and stretches some 50 kilometers with an average width of 5 km.

The exploration department of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said the field was discovered after years of serious endeavors by Iranian experts in Eram District in Fars Province.

Experimental results show that the field should contain quality gas.

The deputy director of development and engineering affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company said the Eram gas field in Fars would bring in 40 billion dollars for the country.

News about the discovery of the gas field surfaced on October 9, with reports saying that the offshore field was discovered 3,900 meters deep in the ground, and was capable of production for 16 years of gas consumption in capital Tehran, which makes up 11% of the country’s total gas consumption.

According to the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), based on the country’s macro policies to increase the share of natural gas in the energy mix of the country due to its numerous advantages such as environmental sustainability, distribution of social justice, etc., Iran as the world’s third largest gas producer in recent years has focused on increasing its share of the global gas market.

Based on this policy, the country’s gas production capacity has been on the agenda since the 2000s, with the development of the South Pars gas field, which has seen constant production growth ever since.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran’s natural gas production capacity has increased from 89 bcm in 1979 to over 3,754 bcm in 2018.

Regarding the implementation of development plans for gas refinement, provided that all development plans come on-stream by the end of the Sixth Development Plan to 2021, the total NIGC gas refinery capacity would cross 1,200 million cubic meters per day.

The latest BP survey reveals that by the end of 2017, Iran was ranked the third largest natural gas producer in the world with more than 223 billion cubic meters of natural gas, enjoying a 6.1-percent share in the global gas market.