By the end of 2004 the verified gas repositories of the world were estimated at 179.53 trillion cubic meters. Iran holds 27.5 trillion cubic meters of this quantity, which equates to 15.3 percent of the world's gas repositories and is the second largest holder of gas after Russia with holdings of 26.7 percent. (BP Statistical Review of World Energy-June 2005)

The South Pars Gas Field contains about 50% of Iran's gas resources and is regarded as the largest offshore gas field in the world. This monumental field is located 100 kilometers from the southern coast in the Persian Gulf and is a joint property of Iran and Qatar. The first excavations on this field were performed in 1990 with seismic data and results confirming the existence of gas there. The Iranian share of this field is an area of 3700 square kilometers and according to conducted estimations consists of 14.2 trillion cubic meter of gas (equal to 8% of the world's resources) and more than 18 billion barrels of condensates. The development cost for each phase of the South Pars Gas Field is estimated around 1 billion USD.

The South Pars Gas Field has been divided into 28 phases for exploitation with each phase being able to extract 28 million cubic meters of gas (or 1 billion cubic feet of gas) per day. Exploitation of each phase can generate an income of 1.5 billion dollars for Iran including the income resulting from replacing oil consumption.

The development of the South Pars Gas Field has been set by the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) as a priority for the third and fourth 5-year economic expansion development plan of Iran.

The Pars Special Economic Energy Zone was established in October 1998 in an area of 10,000 hectares, located 570 kilometers west of Bandar Abbas and 300 kilometers from the east side of the Bushehr Province in the Persian Gulf. The Pars Special Economic Energy Zone Company is responsible for this area.