Iran holds top spot among gas producers

TEHRAN, April 18 (UPI) -- Iranian natural gas will make up at least 10 percent of the global energy trade through 2025, the deputy energy minister said at a conference in Tehran.

Tehran is the site of an international oil and gas conference through Tuesday. Iranian Deputy Energy Minister Javad Oji said during a seminar on Iran's role in the international market that the country would remain an integral part of the global gas sector for at least another decade, the Oil Ministry's Petroenergy Information Network reports.

European demand for natural gas, Oji said, is expected to reach 3 trillion cubic feet per year by 2030 while China's demand is expected to reach at least twice that level.

Iran, he said, could help meet much of that energy demand through shipments of liquefied natural gas. Natural gas, meanwhile, is a lower polluting option for an international community seeking a greener economy, the deputy minister added.

Iran's geographical position with access to open seas, as well as markets in Asia, the Middle East and Europe, gives it an advantage in the regional energy sector, said Oji. Iran's share of the global trade in gas is expected to remain at around 10 percent through 2025, he added.

Iran has the second-largest global reserves of natural gas behind Russia. The country's ability to trade resources, however, is curbed by economic sanctions imposed as punishment for a controversial nuclear program.