TEHRAN – National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) has reached new agreements with Turkey’s state-owned BOTAS Petroleum Pipeline Corporation on gas exports to the neighboring country, a senior official with NIGC announced on Sunday.

National Iranian Gas Company Dispatching Director Mohammadreza Jolaei said that some expert-level meetings have been held between the two sides and new agreements have been reached.

According to Jolaei, with the agreements and coordination made between Iranian and Turkish gas officials, all technical, operational and executive measures for exporting Iranian gas to neighboring Turkey will be finalized within the next six months.

The mentioned measures include operational plans, repairs and maintenance services, cathodic protection, coverage of gas pipelines between Iran and Turkey, and renovation of Bazargan Station as well as other cases related to the gas exports from Iran to neighboring Turkey, he continued.

In this expert-level meeting, the gas transmission capacity, technical and engineering services, and increasing other fields of cooperation were discussed between Iranian and Turkish officials, he said, adding that Iran’s giant gas industry is rapidly moving forward in the path of development and the Islamic Republic is known as a reliable source of natural gas throughout the world.

“The significant position of the country in the world’s energy market must be taken into serious consideration and consequently, effective steps must be taken in order to remove barriers and challenges,” the official stressed.

Sustaining and increasing gas exports will be possible by planning optimally for the development of the industry and maintenance of the current production capacities as well as optimization of consumption, Jolaei added.

Iran is Turkey's second-biggest supplier of natural gas after Russia. Tehran sells about 10 billion cubic meters a year of gas under a 25-year supply deal to Turkey which it uses for electricity generation.

The gas exports are carried out via a 2,577 km (1,601 miles) pipeline running from Tabriz to Ankara.

After the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions in November 2018, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made it clear that his country would continue to buy natural gas from the Islamic Republic.

EF/MA