TEHRAN - Iran and Turkmenistan have signed a gas swap deal under which Ashgabat will sell up to 10 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas to Iraq each year.

The contract was signed on Wednesday in Turkmenistan following extensive negotiations between Tehran and Ashgabat.

Iran's Ambassador to Turkmenistan Ali Mojtaba Roozbahani and Maksat Babayev, chairman of the State Concern Turkmengas put their signatures on the agreement.

Based on the swap mechanism, Iran-- which lies between Turkmenistan and Iraq-- will supply up to 10 bcm of natural gas to Baghdad in exchange for receiving the same volumes from Ashgabat.

Furthermore, Iranian companies will construct a new 125-kilometer gas pipeline along with three gas pressure booster stations in Turkmenistan aimed at boosting annual shipments of gas to Iran to 40 bcm.

Speaking to IRNA's foreign policy correspondent, Ambassador Roozbahani highlighted the role played by the late President Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in pushing the gas swap deal.

He emphasized that the agreement is the result of high-level consultations between the two countries.

Rouzbehani described the gas swap deal as a significant step towards further developing cooperation between Iran and Turkmenistan in the gas sector.

According to energy experts, Iran is moving toward turning into a gas hub in West Asia by resuming imports from Turkmenistan.

Hamid Hosseini, an expert on the issue, said any type of energy exchange with neighboring countries promotes Iran’s position in the world’s gas market and increases its share in the gas trade.

The expansion of gas trade with neighbors also improves the transmission of energy in the country, he mentioned.

“Last winter, we faced a gas shortage in the country, particularly in the northeastern part, which is near Turkmenistan,” recalled the expert, continuing, “We can partly meet our gas need by imports from Turkmenistan this year.”

Hosseini, who is a member of the Iranian Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters Union (OPEX), said gas imports from Turkmenistan will also help supply feedstock to the country’s petrochemical complexes.

Iran should have developed its relations with Turkmenistan in the gas sector in the previous years, regretted the analyst, adding the 13th (incumbent) administration seized the opportunity and reached an agreement with Turkmenistan by paying its gas debt to the neighboring country.

EF/