DUBAI: Iran has discovered over 7.5 trillion cubic feet (212.4 billion cubic metres) of gas in a field in the south of its Fars Province, according to Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad quoted by state media on Sunday.

Given an estimated recovery ratio, Paknejad said it was possible to extract about 5,700 billion cubic feet of gas from that field.

Iran has estimated its pre-war production at around 650 million cubic metres (mcm) per day, which translates into around 8.4 trillion cubic feet per year.

Tehran, which has been carrying out repairs to its energy infrastructure damaged during the war with Israel and the United States, now faces planned US sanctions that could put further strain on its economy.

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

Paknejad said the discovered gas was “sweet”, which meant it would reduce both development and operating costs.

Mohsen Paknejad 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.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2026