"We had arranged to spend 7 billion dollars a year on gas production, but the figure is much lower now," Abdolmohammad Delparish, head of the National Iranian Oil Company"s Integrated Planning added.

"Although gas injection is the key factor in increasing oil recovery rates, other elements such as reservoir research and management plus utilizing state-of-the-art technology can largely contribute to the rate."

Delparish said in a Mehr report that every day, 330 million cubic meters of gas must be injected into the oil reserves, but the current number is 90 million cubic meters which is due to our insufficient infrastructure. "We can only support the daily production of 110 million cubic meters of gas; however, with the inauguration of Aghajari gas field, this number may rise up to 170 million cubic meters."

Answering a question concerning budget and funding for the project, he noted the money can only be provided through foreign financers; otherwise, "our budget will not be enough for the realization of the goals envisaged in the twenty-year development plan."