TEHRAN (IRNA, Trend) – Iranian importation of natural gas from Turkmenistan have decreased by 52% over the first half of the current Iranian year compared to the same period last year, National Iranian Gas Company’s managing director Javad Owji said, IRNA reported.

In October 2010, Iranian & Turkmen Presidents inaugurated the second phase of a 1.2-billion dollar pipeline transferring Turkmenistan’s natural gas into Iran at the north-eastern Iranian city of Sarakhs, on the border with Turkmenistan. This 48" pipeline more than doubled Turkmenistan’s annual gas exports to Iran.
According to BP, Iran imported some 10.2 billion m³ of gas from Turkmenistan last year, while exporting some 8.4 billion m³ of gas to Turkey. Iran also exchanges around 300,000 m³ of its gas with Armenia for electricity. With Azerbaijan, Iran is using swaps, which accounts for one million m³/day of gas. Last year, gas consumption and production in Iran amounted to about 153.3 billion m³ and 151.8 billion m³, respectively.
(Photo: IRNA/Naderipoor)

Some 4 million m³/day of gas is currently being imported from Turkmenistan into Iran, Owji said, adding that from March 21 to October 21, about 2.7 billion m³ of gas were imported from Turkmenistan. Meanwhile, some 5 billion m³ of gas were exported in the six-month period of time to Turkey, he noted.

On September 4, Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi held talks with Turkish Development Minister Cevdet Yilmaz in Tehran with the main topic of increasing exports of Iranian gas to its neighbouring country. Consequently, earlier this month, Iran and Turkey have agreed to transfer natural gas from Turkmenistan to Europe. The third section of the 6th cross-country gas pipeline of Iran, which is aimed to export natural gas to Europe via Turkey, is around 48% complete. Once commissioned, the pipeline will have the capacity to transfer 100 million m³ of gas per day.

Concurrently, a meeting of senior representatives of energy ministries of Azerbaijan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and the EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger, was held earlier this week in Ashgabat for the implementation of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline which would bypass Iran. However, this project is currently opposed by Russia.