SHANA� Iran Exported over 5 billion cubic meters of gas in the first 5 months of the current Iranian calendar year which began on March 21, an official with National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) said.

Mehdi Jamshidi Dana said exports rose by 64% during the period from the same period last year which stood at only 3.2bcm.

He said the country exported an average of 34.8 million cubic meters of natural gas on a daily basis during the period which is compared with last year's 21.3 mcm/d of gas exports.

Dana further added that gas delivery to power plants has also increased by 5% from 204 mcm/d last year to 214mcm/d this year.