Iran to export gas to Syria via Iraq

Iraq has agreed to transit natural gas to Syria through Iraq, says Deputy Oil Minister and Managing Director of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) Javad Owji.

The agreement was reached after a recent meeting between Iranian and Iraqi officials over the transfer of Iran’s natural gas to Iraq’s power plants, Owji said on Sunday, ISNA reported.

The official said it would take at least three years for the construction of a major pipeline capable of transporting around 60 million cubic meters of gas per day before the export could begin.

Earlier, Deputy Managing Director of NIGC Mostafa Kashkouli had announced that Iran was negotiating to pump its gas to Iraq via two pipelines that cross the border at Dehloran and Khorramshar.

Iran possesses the world’s second-largest gas reserves after Russia, which lies on 30 percent of world’s gas in total.