TEHRAN (Iran News) –The director of dispatching of National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) announced holding of a meeting with the representatives of Turkey’s Butas Company and reaching new agreements.
Mohammad Reza Julaei said: “According to the agreements, all technical, operational and executive activities of gas export to Turkey will be carried out within the next 6 months with the coordination of both parties, which include operational plans, overhauls, cathodic protection and coating of lines between Iran and Turkey and renovation of Bazargan Station and other matters related to gas export to this country.”
He stated that in the intensive meeting, there was a discussion and exchange of views on gas transmission capacity, technical and engineering services, and increasing other forms of cooperation, adding: “The country’s huge gas industry is moving rapidly on the path of development and Iran is known all over the world as a reliable source of gas supply, so we should consider this position important and sort out its challenges.”
The director of the dispatching of NIGC also expressed his satisfaction with holding of the meeting and emphasized: “Let’s not forget that the continuation and increase of gas exports will be possible by planning to develop and maintain existing production capacities and optimizing consumption.”
A report by Iranian Oil Ministry’s news service on Saturday said that Iran and Turkey had held ministerial-level talks in Ankara a day earlier to discuss renewing a 25-year gas supply contract or working out a new deal that could allow Iran to increase supplies to Turkey after 2026.
The report by the Shana news agency said that Iran’s Oil Minister Javad Owji had met senior Turkish government ministers and officials to discuss key issues in energy cooperation between the two countries.
It said that a main point of discussion was to set up a new gas exports pipeline across the border between Iran and Turkey.
Turkey relies on Iran for nearly 9 billion cubic meters per year of its natural gas demand. Ankara has indicated it will be willing to increase imports from Iran if the two countries can reach a sustainable framework on price and capacity issues.
However, former CEO of the National Iranian Gas Company Hamid Reza Araqi said on Saturday that it will be unlikely for Iran and Turkey to work out a new gas supply mechanism that could allow an increase in Iranian gas exports to Turkey.
Araqi told the semi-official ISNA news agency that a main obstacle to increasing gas supplies to Turkey is a growing domestic demand for natural gas inside Iran.
He suggested that Iran may seek to increase its gas exports to Iraq rather than to Turkey due to better price arrangements and the fact that the Arab country will experience a major increase in demand for natural gas in the upcoming years.
