Feb. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Iran could supply 10 percent of the world's natural gas demand within 20 years as the country ramps up production at new fields, according to Seyed Reza Kasaeizadeh, head of the National Iranian Gas Co.

Iran currently produces about 1 percent of world gas demand, Kasaeizadeh told the official Shana news agency.

Energy consultant FACTS Inc. warned this week that investment in Iranian natural gas projects is inadequate to meet rising domestic demand for the clean-burning fuel. Iran faces delays in developing the Pars deposit, the largest single natural gas field in the world, because of U.S.-led sanctions and a lack of technology and capital. The gas shortage may hurt production of crude oil and curtail plans to export gas, FACTS said in a report.

Kassaeizadeh said 76 percent of Iranians currently have gas supplied to their homes.

OAO Gazprom, Russia's state-owned natural gas giant, said this week it had agreed to help Iran develop ``two or three'' blocks of the South Pars gas development, and that its oil unit unit, OAO Gazprom Neft, would produce crude in OPEC's second- largest producer after Saudi Arabia.

Gazprom has been involved in the ``pre-development'' of South Pars since 1997 with France's Total SA, according to the Russian company's Web site.

The Persian Gulf country has yet to construct facilities for super-cooling natural gas fuel into a liquid form capable of being shipped by tanker to overseas markets. Gazprom, Russia's state-run gas exporter, wants to help Iran develop liquefied natural gas production, Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari said yesterday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Walters in Moscow at gwalters1@bloomberg.net; Ladane Nasseri in Tehran at lnasseri@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 21, 2008 06:52 EST