Neighboring Countries Exploit Gas Reserves Amidst Iran’s Poor Resource Management

Iran’s neighbors are capitalizing on its lack of comprehensive development and investment plans to take advantage of its gas fields.

According to Ardeshir Dadres, President of the Iran CNG Association, Russia is preventing Iran from extracting gas from eight wells in the Sardar Jangal gas field located in the Caspian Sea. Dadres attributes the critical imbalance in gas production and development over the next decade to insufficient investment.

He emphasizes that in order to overcome this imbalance, Iran needs to spend $60 billion in the next decade to maintain production in South Pars and develop other gas fields. If the current situation persists, the country will face a 400 million cubic meter shortfall in gas production and consumption.

Dadres also points out that mismanagement and imprudence are the primary factors contributing to the imbalance of gas production and consumption in Iran.

He highlights a conflicting situation where, amidst the conflict, the Minister of Oil has ordered the connection of 1.1 million new branches to the country’s gas network, further exacerbating the issue.

In a statement made approximately two years ago, Dadres revealed that Russia is not allowing Iran to extract gas from the Sardar Jangal gas field.

However, this statement was met with denial from the regime’s Ministry of Oil, which claimed that the oil relations between Iran and Russia have always been mutually beneficial.

According to the regime’s Oil Company, exploration and development activities in the Caspian Sea continue based on the macro policies of the Islamic Republic.

Dadres clarifies that, based on the agreement between Iran and Russia, Iran does not have the right to extract gas resources from the Caspian Sea as long as its gas balance remains positive and domestic production satisfies consumption.

Russia currently possesses 18.1% of the world’s gas reserves, while Iran holds 17.9%. If Iran were to extract gas from the Caspian, its share would rise to 18.2%, surpassing Russia. Agreements previously made with Russia aim to prevent such a scenario, ensuring Russia’s dominance.

The regime’s Oil Company dismissed Dadres’ claims as lies, stating that Iran’s national interests are not tied to any specific country.

The Fars news agency, affiliated with the IRGC, also denied the existence of the Sardar Jangal gas field, asserting that there are no external gas fields in the southern Caspian region.

This contradicts the statement made by Rostam Ghasemi, the former oil minister of the regime in 2011, who announced the discovery of the Sardar Jangal gas field with reserves of approximately 50 trillion cubic feet.

Over a decade has passed since the discovery of the Sardar Jangal gas field, and evidence suggests that the predictions of experts, who doubted the regime’s capability to invest, develop, and exploit the field, were accurate.

To justify the gas imbalance, particularly during the cold season, the regime’s authorities place the blame on excessive consumption by the people.

However, many parts of Iran continue to face extreme cold or low gas pressure, with some experiencing gas cutoffs, despite Iran boasting the second-largest gas reserves in the world after Russia.

Energy experts have repeatedly emphasized that the primary factors contributing to the gas shortage and imbalance are the depletion of production infrastructure and the regime’s negligence in investing in the development of gas fields.

In the absence of a comprehensive management plan for the development of gas fields, neighboring countries take advantage and secure a larger share, as seen in the case of the Arash gas field in the south and the Sardar Jangal gas field in the north, which are joint gas fields with Iran’s neighbors.

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