The Feasibility Study of Establishing Natural Gas-trading Hub in Iran Using SWOT Approach

The global growth in energy consumption especially in fossil fuels together with environmental considerations has produced a prospect of considerable increase in the demand for natural gas.  The particular conditions prevailing the Iranian gas industry such as the existence of the World largest gas reservoir, the excellent geopolitical location, the access to the free seas and the availability of necessary infrastructures for pipelines as well as natural gas storage offers actual and potential advantages towards this objective, accordingly by benefiting these advantages, we can define the objectives and formulating appropriate actions towards promoting regional and global gas trade, perform an active role in the gas market.  The realization of this objective may contribute towards advancing the international status of Iran in political and economic relations.For study the aforementioned topics, the feasibility study of establishing gas-trading hub in Iran is carried out with using SWOT approach.  By focusing on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the Iranian gas industry, these points are examined within the SWOT matrix.  Finally, the best strategies involving SO, WO, ST and WT strategies are analyzed regarding the transformation of Iranian gas industry into gas-trading hub in the region. The results show that the establishment of gas-trading hub in Iran is possible, although the domestic shortcomings and the international threats, the possibility of achieving this objective in the foreseeable future is rather weak.