Iran unlikely to prove a gas saviour

Any hopes that the Mideast Gulf state could increase production and exports to help ease the global shortfall are misplaced

Iranian oil minister Javad Owji announced in late June that the final phase of the two-decade-long development of the giant South Pars offshore gas field would enter production in three months’ time. Buoyed by rocketing prices received for its illicit oil exports, Tehran is doubling down on upstream investment and prioritising gas. But any hopes of fresh material Iranian supply hitting the global gas market will likely be disappointed. Profligate domestic consumption, coupled with technical and financial constraints on output and export growth, render a substantial near-term increase in overseas sales improbable. Iran is the world’s third-largest producer of gas—some 70pc of which comes from