Natural gas has skyrocketed to record prices of more than $100 per 1,000 cubic feet on the spot market in some U.S. regions.

The opening day of the conference was hosted in the Swiss city of Montreux and saw bitter exchanges between the rival delegations.

The explosion came on the eve of the anniversary of the start of the 2011 uprising that toppled Egypt's longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak.

"There's an agreement to undertake an article IV review in Iran... There was a bit of a break in recent years," IMF spokesman said.

The earnings were boosted by strong sales of its new Xbox game console and its Surface tablets during the holiday season.