TEHRAN (ISNA)- Iran said that it expects its natural gas production capacity to increase by at least 50 million cubic meters per day (mcm/d) before April 2016.

Mahmoud Astaneh, a top advisor to Iran�s Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh, has told the media that this will push up the country�s collective gas production capacity to as high as 700 mcm/d.

Astaneh added that Iran�s consumption in winter is expected to reach maximum 550 mcm/d. Therefore, chances are high that no shortages of natural gas will occur during winter, he added.

The official further emphasized that Iran�s overall natural gas production will reach 1.2 billion cubic meters per day (bcm/d) within the next few years.

He added that almost half of the total gas output will be used domestically.

The bulk of Iran�s gas reserves are located in South Pars energy zone.

South Pars, divided into 29 development phases, contains 40 trillion cubic meters (tcm) of natural gas. It covers an area of 9,700 square kilometers, 3,700 square kilometers of which are in Iran�s territorial waters in the Persian Gulf. The remaining 6,000 square kilometers are situated in Qatar�s territorial waters.

The gas field is estimated to contain about eight percent of the world�s reserves, and approximately 18 billion barrels of condensate.

The latest section to finish in South Pars was Phase 12 which was put on stream last March. Other latest projects to complete include parts of Phases 15&16 as well as Phases 9&10, Press TV reported.

By ISNA