Iran’s gas export to Turkey up by 50%

Iran says its gas export to neighboring Turkey climbed by 50 percent in 2010 compared to the previous year, and by 100 percent in comparison with the 2008 figures.

The National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) announced Wednesday that it exported 8.25 billion cubic meters of gas to Turkey via pipeline in 2010, according to the oil ministry’s official website Shana.

The exported volume, with an estimated worth of about three billion dollars, is only four percent of the country’s total gas production, the website reports.

The increase in gas exports during peak domestic consumption in cold winter months reflects the capacity of NIGC in producing and processing natural gas as well as transferring it from southern gas fields to the export point at the border with Turkey in northwest Iran.

The National Iranian Gas Company and Turkish BOTAS Petroleum Pipeline Corporation have boosted their cooperation after signing a contract last year.

Last December, Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Javad Oji said that his country is exporting a daily average of more than 30 million cubic meters of natural gas to Turkey, which indicates a daily growth of 11 million cubic meters in 2010.

In 2009, Iran exported an average of 21 million cubic meters of natural gas to Turkey per day.

Iran has the world’s second-largest natural gas reserves after Russia and is Turkey’s second-biggest supplier after Moscow.