"The discovery was confirmed about Jan. 19. When production starts in this field, it will produce something like two phases of South Pars. We are planning to develop it," newspapers quoted the minister as saying. Reuters has verified these remarks with an Iranian journalist who recorded his words. Iran expects output of 25 million cubic meters of gas per day from each phase of the giant South Pars Gas Field, part of the world's largest reservoir of natural gas. Despite holding the world's second largest reserves of natural gas after Russia, Iran has been slow to develop its reserves for export. Foreign companies such as Statoil and Total have been involved in developing Persian Gulf gas fields. However, Statoil last month had to write down its Iran investment because of delays and increased costs. PIN/IRNA