Iran has 3,000 billion dollars worth of oil and gas reserves at current prices, a member of the presiding board of Sharif University of Technology, Abbas Maleki, said.
The Persian-language daily Khabar on Monday quoted Maleki as saying that while Iran has 1 percent of the world's population, it owns 10 percent of the world's proven oil reserves and 16 percent of its gas reserves. Maleki added that with the country's oil and gas reserves, it was needed to "codify" its plans and strategies to develop and promote its energy-related industries.
Iran's economy relies heavily on oil export revenues - some 80-90 percent of total export earnings and 40-50 percent of the government budget.