TEHRAN- Iran is ready to make a swap deal with Russia for transferring about 300 million cubic meters of gas per day from the neighboring country, said National Iranian Gas Company’s Managing Director Hamidreza Araqi.

The official said Iran will receive gas from Russia in its northern terminals and deliver the same volume of the product to Russia’s customers through its southern terminals, the IRNA news agency reported on Monday.

Iran has already made negotiations with Russia and also Turkmenistan to make gas swap deal with the two neighbors; Araqi announced, saying that these countries consider Iran as a safe route for the swap of gas to their target markets.

Transfer of gas from Russia and Turkmenistan could be conducted via pipeline or in the form of lignified natural gas (LNG), he added.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on October 21 that Tehran has proposed to swap hydrocarbon products with Moscow.  

Zanganeh said the proposal was raised during a meeting with the visiting Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak in Tehran. 

Based on the proposed swap mechanism, Iran will receive natural gas, oil and oil products from Russia through its northern terminals and will sell equivalent volumes of the same products to Russia’s clients through its southern terminals. 
  
On October 23, Reuters quoted Novak as saying that Kremlin-controlled gas producer Gazprom has offered gas supplies to Iran under a swap arrangement, and similar oil deals were also under consideration.

“We could supply gas through to Iran’s north and receive gas from the south (of Iran) via swap deals in the form of liquefied natural gas or pipeline gas,” Novak told Russian state-run TV Rossiya-24.

MA/