Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the Extraordinary Ministerial Meeting of the 7th Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) Summit of Heads of State and Government in Algiers, the capital of Algeria, Owji added Iran registered a 5.2 percent rise while the global increase stood at 2.5 percent.

Statistics released by reliable international organizations show that natural gas production in Iran has witnessed an upward trend since 2011, said the oil minister, adding illegal U.S. sanctions have failed to stop or reverse Iran’s gas output growth.

Touching upon the recent sabotage on Iran’s oil industry, the enemies attacked the gas transmission pipelines in winter to cause dissatisfaction among the public, but the oil experts fixed the damaged pipelines at the shortest time possible and thwarted the terrorists’ plots

Natural gas trade

According to the statistics, global natural gas trade is predicted to increase 36 percent by 2050, said Owji, adding it shows gas is a reliable and economical energy for many of the world economies.

He, however, added the increasing need for energy caused by global population and economic growth should be met by finding solutions and diversifying energies according to conditions and potentials of each country.

To that end, huge investments in natural gas supply chain, supportive macro policies, market stability, and free access to financial resources are required, the oil minister underlined.

Iran ready to cooperate with GECF member states

Owji said Iran, as one of the largest holders of proven gas reserves in the world, is ready to cooperate with all member states of the GECF in exploration, drilling, development, production, natural gas distribution, joint ventures, natural gas swap, technical and engineering exports, technical know-how transfer, and human resources projects.

Iran has great technical and economic experiences in developing pipeline grids and CNG stations and is ready to share them with the GECF member states.