Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad announced on state television that the Islamic Republic has discovered a massive natural gas field in the southern Fars province containing over 7.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Out of the total reserves identified in the discovery, approximately 5.7 trillion cubic feet are estimated to be recoverable.
Paknejad described the discovery as equivalent to 15 years of production from a single phase of South Fars, which stands as the largest natural gas field in the world and is shared between Iran and Qatar. The oil minister added that the new site contains natural gas condensate valued at tens of billions of dollars.
The petroleum ministry stated that the Islamic Republic plans to develop the newly discovered energy resources as soon as possible. However, actual production from the site remains years away due to technical requirements and infrastructure needs.
Prior to the current conflict, the Iranian energy sector suffered heavily from Western economic sanctions, chronic underinvestment, and frequent electrical grid blackouts. The national energy infrastructure sustained further damage during the war that began in late February 2026, which included airstrikes targeting key energy facilities and South Pars infrastructure.
Those strikes knocked out approximately one quarter of Iran's daily natural gas production capacity. Although workers have managed to restore a portion of the damaged infrastructure to operational status, government officials have already warned citizens of severe winter energy shortages and urged the public to reduce daily gas consumption.
