TEHRAN, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- A new natural gas field discovered inland in southeastern Iran holds reserves worth at least $50 billion, the country's oil minister announced.
Iranian Petroleum Minister Masoud Mir Kazemi announced that a new gas field in the southern part of the country holds 9.1 trillion cubic feet of gas and 7.7 million barrels of gas condensate.
He estimated that 80 percent of the reserves in the new onshore gas field near Assaluyeh in Iran's Bushehr province are recoverable, meaning energy companies could withdraw as much as 7.4 trillion cubic feet of gas out of the new field, the Iranian Oil Ministry's Petroenergy Information Network reports.
The field is near the South Pars gas complex, one of the world's largest deposits of natural gas.
Iran is the second-largest oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the second-largest holder of natural gas reserves in the world.
International sanctions prevent Iran from shipping much of its oil and natural gas to world markets, however.
