Iran Responds to New Gas Supply Request
Iraq has put in a request to import LNG from Iran, Hamid-Reza Araqi managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) has said.
“Transferring LNG to Basra is possible through sea routes. So, gas exports to Iraq will be possible both through pipeline and LNG,” Mehr news agency quoted Mr. Araqi as saying on November 30.
Exporting natural gas to Iraq will start from the beginning of the next Iranian fiscal year (March 21), he said, adding that necessary facilities and pipelines for this purpose on Iran’s soil have been established.
Gas exports will start from 7 million cubic metres (mcm) per day and will increase to 13 mcm and eventually to 25 mcm, he explained.
In 2013, Iran and Iraq signed an agreement for the export of natural gas from Iran's South Pars gas field to Baghdad. The project has been long in the offing but had been delayed over security concerns in Iraq.
Moreover, Tehran and Baghdad signed a 6-year agreement on November 11, aimed at exporting 25 million cubic metres per day (mcm/d) of Iranian gas to Iraq's Basra.
During the six-year period covered by the agreement, Iran will export 40 billion cubic metres of gas to Iraq. Both sides have the option to can extend the deal once it ends.
It's expected that Iranian gas delivery to Basra will start in 2017.
Mr. Araqi said on November 24 that Iran is negotiating to launch five LNG projects within the next three years, a move that aims to increase its share of the global market.
He added that negotiations for exporting gas to five neighbouring countries are underway.
“Currently, Iran exports gas to Turkey, barters with Armenian gas, and swaps with Azerbaijan, and exports to Iraq will start in the near future,” he said on November 24.
The first Iranian LNG unit has yet to come on stream. The project is being implemented and is currently 60% physically completed. The project will be completed pending the removal of sanctions to import necessary equipment and structures.
This plant’s capacity is projected to be 10.5 million tons per year and it is estimated that it will earn the country more than $7 billion annually.