Iran holds around 18 percent of total proven natural gas reserves globally, according to British Petroleum's (BP) Statistical Review of World Energy. 67% of the mentioned volume is in non associated gas fields.
Iran holds 33.5 trillion cubic meters of natural gas reserves while Russia followed with 32.3 trillion cubic meters. Qatar ranked third with 24.3 trillion cubic meters in reserves.
According to the report, the Middle East is the leading region with 79.4 trillion cubic meters of proven gas reserves, while South and Central America have the least amount with 7.6 trillion cubic meters. Meanwhile, the U.S. is world's biggest gas producer.
At present, Iran is producing only a small share of its gas reserves, about 160 billion cubic meters per year. This means that Iran is one of the few countries capable of supplying much larger amounts of natural gas in the future. Besides, Iran still has huge potential for new significant gas discoveries.
There is some disagreement on which country has the largest proven gas reserves. Some sources consider that Russia has the largest proven reserves. However, BP credits Russia with only 32.3, which would place it in the second place, slightly behind Iran.
Iran’s ten biggest Non-Associated Gas Fields