Iran will raise gas condensate processing capacity by establishing eight small refineries, Iran's oil minister was quoted as saying by an IRAN Daily on Wednesday.

The Oil Ministry intends to establish eight refineries in the southern Bushehr province, each with a production capacity of 60, 000 barrels per day, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said, adding that "By launching the refineries and completing the construction of Persian Gulf Star Refinery, Iran will be also able to turn one million barrels of gas liquids into value-added products domestically."

He said the Oil Ministry intends to use the resources of National Development Fund (NDF) to complete major oil projects, but "Currently, there are restrictions on using NDF resources such as lack of easy access to funds."

Therefore, private sector can play significant role in achieving the target, Zanganeh stressed.

On Tuesday, reports said that Iran plans to utilize the biggest phase of the South Pars gas field, namely the phase 12, before winter to prevent gas shortage in the country during the cold season.

The phase 12 will come on stream by the end of the eighth Iranian calendar month of Aban (November 21), the project manager Rasoul Fallahnejad was quoted as saying by Tehran Times daily.

Once the phase 12 comes on stream, it will inject about 75 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas into the national gas network per day, Fallahnejad said.

According to the report, Iran is currently producing 300 mcm per day of gas from the South Pars.

The South Pars or North Dome field is a natural gas condensate field located in the Persian Gulf. It is one of the world's largest gas fields, shared between Iran and Qatar. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the field holds an estimated 1,800 trillion cubic feet (51 trillion cubic meters) of in-situ natural gas and some 50 billion barrels (7.9 billion cubic meters) of natural gas condensates.

This gas field covers an area of 9,700 square km, of which 3, 700 square km is in Iranian territorial waters called the South Pars and 6,000 square km is in Qatari territorial waters referred to as the North Dome.

Although Iran possesses one of the world's largest gas reserves, it has struggled for years to develop its oil and gas resources due to the withdrawal of foreign investors from its energy sector under Western pressure.

The European Union and the United States are in negotiations with Iran to ease oil and natural gas embargo which has served as part of the sanctions aiming to pressure Tehran to halt sensitive part of its controversial nuclear program.