Iran announces possibility to increase gas export

Director of Gas Transmission Operation (District 8) has announced the possibility to increase gas export or swap with Caucasus countries like Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Yadollah Baibordi referred to the latest status of exports and swap of Iran’s natural gas adding “about one million cubic meters of natural gas per day has been exported to Armenia since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year.”

Baibordi underlined the existence of primary infrastructures to increase the amount of gas exports to Armenia including pipelines, export terminals as well as compression facilities; “upon reaching a final agreement with the Armenian side, the possibility exists to export 10 million cubic meters of gas to the neighboring country on a daily basis.”

Stressing that Iran is currently able to export a total of three billion cubic meters of natural gas to Armenia annually, the official said the export of gas to Armenia is carried out in exchange for the purchase of electricity. He further recalled the export of more than 250 million cubic meters of gas to Armenia since the beginning of the current Iranian year adding “in the meantime, a daily average of about 1.5 million cubic meters of natural gas has been transferred from Azerbaijan to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic via Iran’s gas network.”

Baibordi referred to the import of about 140 million cubic meters of gas from Azerbaijan; “the swap volume of Iranian natural gas with Nakhchivan has reached more than 130 million cubic meters since the beginning of the year,” he explained.

“With the operation of the ninth national pipeline, it would become possible to increase the volume of gas exports to interested countries like Turkey, Armenia as well as Caucasus region countries,” noted the official. The official highlighted the operation of gas compression facility in Tabriz concluding “with the implementation of the project, the gas export capacity in the north-western areas of the country will reach more than 50 million cubic meters a day.”