Iran Has No Plans to Build a Gas Transfer Pipeline to Europe

Iran has no plans to build a gas transfer pipeline to Europe, said Alireza Kameli, managing director of National Iranian Gas Exports Company.

Iranian gas is being exported to Europe in the form of LNG, Mehr news agency quoted Kameli as saying on November 16.

Generally speaking, four to five thousand kilometres of pipeline would need to be established to transfer Iranian gas to Europe, he noted. Such a pipeline would entail construction and transit costs, as well, because it would pass several countries, he added.

Iran will build a 1,850-kilometre cross-country pipeline from the South Pars field towards its border with Turkey, which is expected to cost $6 billion.

The Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) and Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), aimed to transit Azerbaijani gas to EU, could be used to carry Iranian gas as well, but Iranian officials says the transit fees are high.

Compared with exporting LNG, exporting via pipeline to European countries is not currently economically justified, Kameli explained.

“The prioritized policy is to start with southwest Asian countries, like India, China, Japan, and South Korea, which have higher gas consumption rates compared with European countries.”

Rokneddin Javadi, the head of the National Iranian Oil Company, sees Iran joining the elite club of LNG exporters in the next two years.

Meanwhile, Iran's deputy oil minister for international affairs Amir Hossein Zamaninia said in August that developing gas exports to neighboring countries is Iran's foremost priority, as it helps deepen Iran's relations with those countries.

The official noted that Iraq can be among the major consumers of Iran's gas, noting that in addition to Iraq, “Oman, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, India and Pakistan will also need Iran's gas.”