Iran: LNG projects not abandoned

Iran’s major liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects have not been abandoned and foreign partners are not willing to cancel their contracts, an Iranian energy official says.

Managing director of the National Iranian Gas Export Company Hossein Bidarmaghz told reporters on Tuesday that the NIGEC, as the main stockholder of Pars and Persian LNG projects, considers them still active, IRNA reported.

Bidarmaghz said both projects have been temporarily halted as cancelling the projects would be costlier than a temporary halt.

The Iranian official said LNG can be used as fuel by power plants to generate electricity.

Asked about LNG use in small vehicles, he noted, “This project has not been implemented anywhere in the world and few countries, including Russia and China, use it as fuel for heavy vehicles.”

The Persian LNG project aims to build a gas liquefaction plant in Tombak region, 50 km northwest of Asalouyeh and 15 km southeast of the city of Kangan in the southern Bushehr Province. It is meant to produce a total of 2.16 million tons of LNG.

Pars LNG project also aims to yield an annual amount of 10 million tons of liquefied natural gas.

Iran ranks the second in the world in natural gas reserves after Russia with available gas reserves estimated at over 33 trillion cubic meters.

In addition to exporting gas to Turkey, Armenia, and Pakistan, the country is currently negotiating gas exports to Iraq.