Speaking to reporters in Tehran on Sunday, Reza Dehqan said the huge gas field named “Eram” has been discovered in the southern province of Fars.
He added that the field, with a reserve capacity of 19 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in place, is located in southern parts of the province.
More detailed information about the onshore hydrocarbon discovery will be announced later.
Iranian officials have said the country is pressing ahead with its energy development plans despite severe US sanctions that seek to cripple the country’s economy.
Last month, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said that the country’s extraction of gas from the South Pars gas field would reach 750 million cubic meters per day by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 2020).
South Pars gas field is located in the Persian Gulf straddling the maritime border between Iran and Qatar, covering an area of 9,700 square kilometers, of which 3,700 square kilometers belong to Iran.
It is estimated that the Iranian section of the energy-rich zone contains 14 trillion cubic meters of gas and 18 billion barrels of condensates in place.