Iran holds around 18 percent of total proven natural gas reserves globally, according to British Petroleum's (BP) Statistical Review of World Energy 2017 report on Wednesday.
Iran holds 33.5 trillion cubic meters of natural gas reserves while Russia followed with 32.3 trillion cubic meters. LNG giant Qatar ranked third with 24.3 trillion cubic meters in reserves.
According to the report, the Middle East is the leading region with 79.4 trillion cubic meters of proven gas reserves, while South and Central America have the least amount with 7.6 trillion cubic meters.
- The U.S. is world's biggest gas producer
In natural gas output, the U.S. has been a world leader since 2009 when it first surpassed Russia in gas production.
Due to low gas prices, however, the U.S.' gas production in 2016 declined 2.5 percent from the year before to 749.2 billion cubic meters. This represented 21.1 percent of global gas output last year, according to the report.
After the shale revolution in 2008, the U.S.' shale oil and gas production increased rapidly, experts said.
The U.S. is also a world leader in gas consumption since 1985 -- the year BP gas data was first released.
BP also noted in the report that global proved gas reserves in 2016 rose slightly by 1.2 trillion cubic meters to 186.6 trillion cubic meters.
"As with oil, this is sufficient to meet more than 50 years of current production (52.5 years)," the report read.
Total proved reserves by country
Iran33.5 trillion cubic meters
Russia32.3 trillion cubic meters
Qatar24.3 trillion cubic meters
Turkmenistan17.5 trillion cubic meters
The U.S.8.7 trillion cubic meters
Saudi Arabia8.4 trillion cubic meters
United Arab Emirates6.1 trillion cubic meters
Venezuela5.7 trillion cubic meters
China5.4 trillion cubic meters
Iraq3.7 trillion cubic meters
Natural gas production by country
The U.S.749.2 billion cubic meters
Russia579.4 billion cubic meters
Iran202.4 billion cubic meters
Qatar181.2 billion cubic meters
Canada152 billion cubic meters
China138.4 billion cubic meters
Norway116.6 billion cubic meters
Saudi Arabia109.4 billion cubic meters
Algeria91.3 billion cubic meters
Australia91.2 billion cubic meters
(Anadolu Agency)
