Iran announces new natural gas discovery as war and US sanctions hamper production

Iran said on Sunday it had discovered more than 200 billion cubic meters (7.5 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas, months into the Middle East war that has hit the country’s energy infrastructure and production.

“New gas reserves were discovered in the south of Fars province,” Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad told state television, adding that over 160 billion cubic meters (5,700 billion cubic feet) could be extracted from the field, which he predicted could be in operation for 15 years producing over 280 million cubic meters (around 1 billion cubic feet) of natural gas per day — a fraction of the country’s estimated daily natural gas consumption.

He described it as sweet natural gas, which has very little of the toxic gas hydrogen sulphide, resulting in lower operating and development costs.

According to Bloomberg, any new production from the site would likely be years away.

Iran’s energy sector has taken a hit since joint US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic launched the Middle East war in late February.

The countries have struck Iran’s energy infrastructure such as gas production facilities or oil depots, as well as transport routes.

In July, a senior government official said Iran expected to restore about 100 million cubic meters per day of natural gas production capacity “within the coming months,” after strikes cut output by about 230 million cubic meters per day since the war started in late February.

But Tehran, which has been carrying out repairs to its damaged energy infrastructure, now faces planned US sanctions that could put further strain on its economy, with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent due to hold a press conference at 2 p.m. on Monday after threatening “the toughest sanctions in history” on Iran.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.