FNA - A senior Iranian official announced that the country is now extracting more gas from the South Pars field than Qatar despite the US sanctions on Iran's energy sector and following cooperation among different relevant bodies in the country.

Iranian Vice-President for Communications and Information Parviz Esmayeeli made the remarks on Monday, saying that "Qatar extracted much larger volumes of gas from Iran just a few years ago".

He added that after the development and inauguration of phases 13, 22, 23 and 24 of the South Pars field that came as a result of cooperation among the oil ministry, Khatam ol-Anbia Headquarters and a consortium of Iranian contractors, "our extraction stands at a volume of 660mln cubic/meters and they (the Qataris) extract 575mln cubic/meters on a daily basis".

"This means that we could (make it) with the help of each other," Esmayeeli stressed.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani inaugurated 4 new phases of the huge offshore South Pars gas field in defiance of Washington�s harsh policies aimed at crippling Tehran�s economy.

During an inaugural ceremony in the Southern coastal city of Kangan on Sunday, President Rouhani officially launched phases 13, 22, 23, and 24 of South Pars gas field, noting that despite all the US pressures on the Iranian nation, specially through the imposition of unilateral economic sanctions, Iranians remain steadfast and resistant and continue to progress.

�Americans did not want us to inaugurate any important projects during the current year, but we made all projects operational on schedule,� Rouhani said.

�Today is a very auspicious day for the Iranian nation, which has dealt strong blows to enemies, because they thought that by imposing sanctions, they would be able to stop all our plans and advances,� Rouhani added.

The South Pars gas field, divided into 28 phases, is located in the Persian Gulf on the common border between Iran and Qatar. The field is estimated to hold 14 trillion cubic meters of gas as well as 18 billion barrels of condensates.

The field covers an area of 9,700 square kilometers, 3,700 square kilometers of which lie in Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf. The remaining 6,000 square kilometers, better known as the North Dome, are located in Qatar's territorial waters.