Posted by December 7, 2009
Source:
Iran intends to purchase about five billion cubic meters of gas from Azerbaijan, Iranian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mohammad-Baqer Bahrami state in Baku on Monday.
“At present, the sides mull the volume of gas to be delivered from Azerbaijan to Iran in accordance with the existing agreement,” Bahrami said.
In mid-November, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and National Iranian Gas Company signed the memorandum on mutual understanding on Azerbaijani gas supplies to Iran beginning from 2010.
Currently, the infrastructure allows delivering about 500 million cubic meters of gas per year. In the future, the parties intend to expand capacity by increasing the capacity of gas compressor stations. The gas price has not been specified.
The contract on purchase-sale of gas is expected to be signed by late 2009.
Azerbaijan has four directions of gas export, including Turkey, Georgia, Russia and Iran. At present, gas is exported to Turkey and Georgia. Azerbaijani gas will be exported to Russia from early 2010. At present, Azerbaijan exports gas upon swap conditions with further transfer of Iranian gas to provide the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.
Azerbaijan and Iran are connected with the Kazi-Magomed-Astara pipeline gas pipeline. Its length is 1474.5 kilometers, including the territory of Azerbaijan – 296.5 kilometers. Its capacity is 10 billion cubic meters per year.