Tasnim� Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said Qatari officials have called for establishing a joint technical committee to coordinate the volume of gas output from the South Pars gas field located on the two countries� common border.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the 22nd Iran international Exhibition of Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemicals in Tehran on Sunday, Zanganeh highlighted efforts made by the current administration to boost production in gas fields shared with neighboring countries.

About 13 years ago, Iran�s production in some shared fields had come close to those of some neighboring countries, the minister said, adding that they had accepted to hold a joint �technical committee� meeting to coordinate the level of output from joint fields.

But after Iran fell behind them in terms of production in the following years, they refused to answer Iran�s letters to hold such a meeting, Zanganeh noted.

However, he added, as the Islamic Republic�s production neared Qatar�s recently, the Arab country has called on Iran to hold a joint technical committee meeting to coordinate the output.

Last month, the South Pars Phases 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 were inaugurated by Iran�s President Hassan Rouhani.

At the time of inauguration, Zanganeh said three other phases of the gas field are planned to become operational by the end of the current Iranian year (March 2018).

Zanganeh also said that after the coming into service of the remaining phases, the country�s daily gas production would rise to 800m cubic meters, surpassing that of neighboring Qatar.

The South Pars gas field, whose development has been divided into 24 phases, is located in the Persian Gulf straddling the maritime border between Iran and Qatar.

It is estimated that the Iranian section of the field contains 14 trillion cubic meters of gas and 18 billion barrels of condensates in place.