Iran's oil minister said Monday that an oil field whose discovery President Hassan Rouhani announced a day earlier adds only 22.2 billion barrels to the country's estimated crude reserves.
Out of the amount at the site, only a tenth -- 2.2 billion barrels --- can be extracted due to technological limitations, Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh told reporters in Tehran.
Rouhani on Sunday announced the discovery of a field containing 53 billion barrels of oil in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, saying it was a "small gift by the government to the people of Iran".
The oil minister said the discovery added 22.2 billion barrels to the country's oil reserves.
"Considering that there was already 31 billion barrels of oil (in the region), the in situ amount added is 22.2 billion barrels," he said.
Due to the area's "dense and stone material", the amount that can be extracted is only "2.2 billion barrels, considering the current technology we have," he added.
The discovery spans 2,400 square kilometers, according to a map Zanganeh showed journalists.
