Iran's gas output has risen 35 percent compared with 2012

LONDON (Reuters) - Iran's gas output has risen 35 percent compared with 2012, the oil minister said on Monday.

"In the first ten months of the (Iranian) year (starting from March), Iran produced on average 840 million cubic metres of gas a day, showing a 35 percent increase compared with 2012," Bijan Zanganeh was quoted by the oil ministry's news agency SHANA as saying.

Zanganeh also said that Iran's gas production from South Pars, the world's largest gas field, has reached 600 million cubic metres a day.

The offshore field, which Iran calls South Pars and Qatar calls North Field, is shared between the two countries.

Zanganeh said Iran's gas production from the field has exceeded Qatar's.

France's Total and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) suspended investment in the South Pars project last year after the United States threatened to impose sanctions on companies that do business in Iran.

The United States reimposed sanctions on Iran's energy and banking sectors after Washington withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran and world powers. The agreement had imposed limits on Iran's nuclear ambitions in exchange for sanctions relief.

(Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin. Editing by Louise Heavens)