Azerbaijan , Baku, March 30 / Trend, A.Yusifzade /
By discovering at least four new oil and gas fields Iranian hydrocarbon reserves increased roughly by $30 billion in value last Iranian year (March 21, 2010 - March 20, 2011), Iranian Petroleum Ministry reported quoting Oil Minister Seyed Massoud Mirkazemi as saying.
Iran 's crude oil reserves have increased from 137 billion barrels of oil to 150.13 billion barrels of oil and gas reserves from 27 to 33 trillion cubic meters due to new discoveries, Mirkazemi added.
According to Mirkazemi, domestic manufacturers meet the demand of Iranian oil industry by 70 percent and the figure will increase to over 90 percent by the end of Fifth Five Year Development Plan (2016).
Iran 's Deputy Oil Minister Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr said earlier that the country's hydrocarbon capacities are expected to grow due to the modern tactics employed in oil and gas explorations, highlighting the country's potential for discovering even more intact hydrocarbon reserves.
Iran is OPEC's second-largest oil producer after Saudi Arabia. The Persian Gulf country sits on the world's second-largest gas reserves after Russia.
