According to NIOC, Hamid Bovard pointed to the discovery of the Takhteh gas field in southern Fars province and the Pazan field, stating that the combined discovery of 17.5 trillion cubic feet of gas across these two fields represents the largest volume of gas discovered worldwide since 2025 — placing the company first globally in gas resource discovery for this period.

He noted that drilling operations at the Takhteh gas field, which led to the discovery of 7.5 trillion cubic feet of gas in place and 5.5 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas, took place in the midst of the imposed 12-day war and the imposed third war. Despite this, he stressed, oil industry operations not only continued uninterrupted during this period, but exploration activities also persisted, resulting in the discovery of new fields.

The NIOC chief emphasized that, given the country's diverse hydrocarbon potential, the company plans to increase the number of exploratory drilling rigs and carry out seismic survey projects, concentrating part of its exploration management capacity in the northeastern, northern, and northwestern provinces. The goal, he said, is to help ease the country's energy imbalance by drawing on the potential of these new resources.