"Explored reserves of two large oil and gas fields brought Iran to the world second place in terms of oil and gas reserves," he told reporters on Saturday.
He estimated gas reserves near the island of Lavan at 251 bln cubic meters, with the anticipated revenue of 7 billion dollars.
"Yadavaran oil field in southwest Iran, province of Khuzestan, is worth up to 17 billion barrels of oil, with the anticipated production rate of 300,000 to 400,000 barrels per day," he added.
Yadavaran is now on tender, he said. Invitations were sent to Total (France), Royal Dutch/Shell (UK/Netherlands), and other well-known companies from China, India, Spain, and Italy. The deadline has not been defined yet.
Zanganeh did not rule out that American companies could also be invited. "If the Americans want to engage in the tender for the development of the field, there is no problem. However, we will not give any information on this field until we make sure that these companies are free of the U.S. Administration's embargo on cooperation with Iran," the minister said.
