TEHRAN- Iran’s exports of natural gas to its northwestern neighbor, Armenia, will be tripled from its present one million cubic meters (mcm) to three mcm per day by the end of 2018, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh announced on Tuesday.

As Shana news agency reported, after his meeting with Armenian Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Levon Yolyan in Tehran, Zanganeh also informed that the proportion of gas-to-power barter between the two sides has also increased.

Telling reporters that transiting Iran's gas through Armenia was the meeting's main focus, Zanganeh explained that an Armenian delegation made a trip to Iran following Tehran’s request for gas transit to Georgia through Armenian territories. They proposed formation of a new organization to be in charge of purchasing gas from Iran and since Iran accepted the suggestion, the current Armenian buyer of Iranian gas i.e. Yerevan Thermal Power Plant, will be replaced by the new body which is to be formed in future, he added.

The Iranian minister, elsewhere, addressed the issue of gas-to-power barter between the two countries and said that Iran used to receive 3 kilo watts per hour (kW/h) for every cubic meter of gas it supplies Armenia and the figure has been increased to 3.2 kW/h, he added.

HJ/MA