Iran Looking at Gas Swap Projects

Iran is looking at various gas swap projects in the region as this move can establish a strategic link among major gas producers, the National Iranian Gas Exports Company’s managing director Hossein Bidarmaghz said.

Iran is currently studying on a number of routes such as Turkmenistan-Persian Gulf and Turkmenistan-Pakistan for swapping natural gas. The country is currently swapping gas with Azerbaijan and transfering its gas to Nakhichevan.

In 2005, Azerbaijan and Iran opened a gas pipeline from Iran to Azerbaijan's Nakhichevan Autonomous Region.

Currently Iran imports 1 million cubic meters of gas from Azerbaijan, delivering it to the Nakhchivan Republic under a 25-year swap deal.

Earlier in September, Bidarmaghz said that Iran had reached agreements with India and Oman on exporting gas to the two countries.

Bidarmaghz said based on a trilateral agreement among Iran, Oman and a third country, Iran's gas would feed Oman's liquefaction plant before being processed into various products in a third country.

Iran ranks second in the world in natural gas resources after Russia with available gas reserves estimated at over 33 trillion cubic meters.