Mousa Ahmadi made the comments on Thursday on the sidelines of the launch of the first phase of a flare gas collection project at the Rag Sefid oil field.

"Flare gas is a national resource, and burning it is a waste of public funds," he said. "Collecting this gas will first prevent the waste of this resource and then reduce air pollution."

Ahmadi noted the country's energy imbalance and said preventing the burning of flare gas and delivering it to gas refineries is important not only for providing fuel in the winter but also has economic value.

The head of the energy commission also highlighted job creation as one of the key benefits of such projects, saying that collecting flare gas would lead to the employment of young people in the oil industry.

Ahmadi said the goal of the energy commission's visit to Khuzestan province was to conduct field visits to oil companies, review the latest status of flare gas collection, and prepare a report on measures taken to address the energy imbalance.