TEHRAN – Head of National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) said Iran is ready to collaborate in swapping gas from Turkmenistan to Pakistan, Shana reported on Sunday.

Referring to Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India Pipeline project (known as TAPI), Hamidreza Araqi said, “I doubt the project will become operational anytime soon so we are ready to take Turkmen gas and deliver it to Pakistan at the fastest and lowest cost.”

“Suppose that, in the best case scenario, TAPI could be constructed in 10 years, it is still unclear which party is going to provide the project’s security and fundings,” the official noted.

In November 2017, Araqi had told ISNA that NIGC is averse to swapping Turkmen gas with Turkey and Iraq, but we have no problem with Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Earlier this month, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Turkmenistan is exploring options on gas swap deals with Iran to export its fuel to markets further afield.

Iran is currently swapping Turkmen gas to Azerbaijan and since it is the only easy way for Turkmenistan to send its gas to Europe, the Central Asian nation is trying to keep its destination markets through Iran.

EF/MA