Iran offers gas supply to Europe

Iran is ready to supply natural gas to European countries, the country's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Saturday. "As a country that has the capacity to supply gas in large volumes, Iran is always willing to export natural gas to Europe via pipeline or in the form of liquefied natural gas," Zanganeh was quoted as saying by Press TV. The Europeans are willing to diversify their sources of energy, and Iran's offer has nothing to do with Russia's differences with Europe over Ukraine crisis, he said. Development of different phases of South Pars gas field will allow Iran to increase its natural gas exports from the next Iranian calendar year, beginning in March 2015, Zanganeh said. The South Pars or North Dome field is a natural gas condensate field located in the Persian Gulf. It is one of the world's largest gas fields, shared between Iran and Qatar. The field holds an estimated 51 trillion cubic meters of in- situ natural gas and some 7.9 billion cubic meters of natural gas condensates, according to the International Energy Agency. The gas field covers an area of 9,700 square km, of which 3,700 square km is in Iran's territorial waters called the South Pars, while the rest 6,000 square km belongs Qatar's territorial waters referred to as the North Dome. Although Iran possesses one of the world's largest gas reserves, it has struggled for years to develop its oil and gas resources due to the withdrawal of foreign investors from its energy sector under Western pressure. The European Union and the United States are in negotiations with Iran to ease oil and natural gas embargo which is part of the sanctions aiming to pressure Tehran to halt sensitive parts of its controversial nuclear program.