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Iran, Russia eye oil & gas swap

Wednesday, March 16
Iran and Russia are capable of swapping oil and gas, says Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh.

At a meeting with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak in Tehran, Zanganeh said that the expansion of cooperation with Russia is on Iran’s agenda, the SHANA news agency reported March 14.

Calling for cooperation with Russia in the global oil and gas market, Zanganeh said there are proper chances for cooperation between Tehran and Moscow in the post-sanctions era.

Zanganeh further expressed hope that Russian companies will cooperate with his country in the development of Iran’s oil and gas fields.

Tehran and Moscow have been in discussions on the swap of oil and gas over the past several years. Under a possible swap plan, Russia will supply oil and gas to northern Iran, and the Islamic Republic in return will be expected to deliver oil and gas on behalf of Russia to Moscow’s customers in the Persian Gulf.

Iran has a project worth $4 billion (the 11th cross-country pipeline) to deliver 110 million cubic meters of gas per day from South Pars gas filed to the country’s north-eastern regions. On the other hand, the Islamic Republic has another $6 billion project to deliver the same amount of gas from South Pars to the north-western regions.

Iran also eyes boosting gas production from the current 700 million cubic meters per day to above 1.3 billion cubic meters per day by 2020-2021, enabling the country to export 200 million cubic meters per day of natural gas. (Trend.az)