Azerbaijan to begin gas export to Iran late March
March 11, 2010 - 0:0
Azerbaijan's State Oil Company (SOCAR) is planning to start commercial gas supplies to Iran in late March.
“Azerbaijan currently swaps supplies of gas with Iran to meet the needs of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic,” the head of SOCAR’s investment department, Vagif Aliyev, told reporters on Wednesday.“The commercial gas supplies to Iran will start in late March after reconstruction of the compressor station in Astara is completed,” Aliyev said.
SOCAR said that it is currently sending Iran 1.3 million cubic meters of gas per day as part of the swap deal for Nakhchivan.
SOCAR had earlier planned to start commercial exports of Azerbaijani gas to Iran in late February 2010. Daily export of 1.2-1.5 million cubic meters is proposed. The gas will be supplied via the Kazi-Magomed-Astara gas pipeline.
SOCAR and the National Iranian Gas Export Company (NIGEC) signed a short-term contract on supplies of Azerbaijani gas to Iran on 13 January 2010. The contract envisages the supply of about 100 million cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas to Iran in winter.
(Source: News.az)