Iran is on pace to become one of the regional leaders in terms of underground storage of natural gas, a top energy executive said. Shourijeh, a gas storage facility in Iran's northeastern province of North Khorassan, is expected to come on stream later this year. It's expected to hold as much as 700 million cubic feet of gas for Iran. For the inland facilities, Managing Director of Natural Gas Storage Co. Massoud Samivand said the country will have the largest storage capabilities for natural gas in the region. "Iran will become one of five main countries in the world and second in the Middle East with underground facilities for natural gas storage," he said Saturday. Gas storage helps Iran meet its economic demands for energy products. Last year, the government said it was self-sufficient in terms of oil and natural gas. Iran is second only to Russia in terms of proven natural gas reserves with an estimated 1.1. quadrillion cubic feet as of January 2013. Iran last week announced it launched its first-ever floating gas condensate export terminal in the waters of the Persian Gulf.