TEHRAN – The director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC)'s Discovery Department has announced the discovering of new oil and gas fields in the country, IRIB reported on Wednesday.

Sharing a video on his social media, Saleh Hendi said the details of the discoveries will soon be revealed by the Oil Ministry.

Back in August, Hendi had announced that a new gas field was discovered in southern Iran.

He furthered noted that following the country’s sixth five-year development plan (2016-2021), NIOC have had very good achievements in the exploration of new oil and gas reservoirs, so that now Iran ranks first in terms of oil and gas reserves.

“The U.S. sanctions haven’t had a significant impact on NIOC’s discovery activities and we are proceeding on schedule”, he added.

The official also said that plans were underway for beginning new exploration operations in the northeast of the country.

The official noted that although exploration activities are costly and with more risks in the mentioned area, considering the region’s great distance from the country’s energy resources in the center or south, NIOC has put it on the agenda to start such operations.

This year, NIOC’s Exploration Directorate has also signed numerous agreements with Iranian universities and knowledge-based companies for research in various fields of geophysics, geochemistry, unconventional hydrocarbon resources and drilling.

EF/MA