Iran stands ready to buy 10bn cu.m. gas from Azerbaijan

"Iran is ready to buy as much gas from Azerbaijan as the country can supply. We are ready to buy up to 10 billion cubic meters of gas from Azerbaijan," said Bahrami.

Currently, the ambassador said, Azerbaijan supplies Iran about two million cubic meters of gas. Of this volume, approximately 800,000 cubic meters of gas is delivered under the "swap" transactions to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and 1.2 million cubic meters of gas within the signed short-term contract.

SOCAR and NIGEC signed a short-term contract for gas supplies to Iran in January. The contract envisages supplying Azerbaijani gas to Iran until March-April of 2010; totaling about 100 million cubic meters (1.2 million cubic meters of gas per day). Supplies will be delivered to the northern Iranian regions, which are isolated from the main gas fields.

Earlier, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) mentioned its intention to build a new pipeline to export gas to Iran. Presently, work on a new Sangachal-Azadkend-Astara pipeline is underway. It is expected that construction of the new pipeline will begin in 2010.

The capacity of the new pipeline, 200-kilometer long, will be 18 million cubic meters of gas (6.57 billion cubic meters per year). The decision to build a new pipeline was made because the existing pipeline connecting Azerbaijan and Iran makes it impossible to increase gas exports to the South. Construction is expected to end in 2012 and it will be financed by SOCAR.

Azerbaijan and Iran are connected with the Gazi-Magomed-Astara-Bind-Biand gas pipeline, 1,474.5-kilometers long. Its capacity was 10 billion cubic meters a year, but now it is lower. This route is a branch of the Gazakh-Astara-Iran pipeline commissioned in 1971. Three compressor stations -- Gazi-Magomed, Aghdash and Gazakh -- were built.

/Trend News/