Iran has $28 billion worth of liquefied natural gas projects in the pipeline, the head of the country's natural gas company said Wednesday.
Speaking at a World Petroleum Congress conference, Reza Kassaei Zadeh, managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company, said that meant a rate of $6 billion of LNG investments a year.
He said the country expected annual production of 274 billion cubic meters in 2012, compared with a domestic output capacity of 123 bcm last year.
Iran forecasts 277 bcm of domestic natural gas sales in 2012, compared with 155 bcm in 2007, he said.
Those forecasts, however, could change as gas subsidies are lifted, he said on the sidelines of the conference. Domestic private consumption would decrease as local gas prices move from a subsdized $0.02 per cubic meter in line with the export price of $0.40 per cubic meter.
Kassaei Zadeh said Iran wants to account for 10% of global natural gas trades in 2025.
Iran has also been pursuing opportunities abroad for refining investment.
Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, president of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Co., said he was going to Kazakhstan in two weeks where he will meet the country's oil minister and representatives of state oil company KazMunaiGas.