Gas trade balance will turn positive in the next Iranian year (starting March 21) upon finalization of a gas export agreement with Iraq, managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company said Wednesday, Shana news agency reported.
"Gas exports stood slightly higher than imports this year," Alireza Kameli stated, adding that Iran plans to export the natural gas it imports from Turkmenistan to its southern neighbors through Iraq and Turkey.
On recent reports about the possibility of a halt to gas imports from Turkmenistan, Kameli asserted that Iran does not intend to stop swapping gas with any of its neighbors "even if domestic natural gas production increases to the point where it adds a surplus."
Meanwhile, the NIGC official said Iran daily exports one million cubic meters of swapped gas to Nakhichevan. "We also have an energy barter deal with Armenia according to which Armenia exports electricity to Iran and receives natural gas in return."
Altogether, Kameli said although Iran does not have a high volume of gas swaps, it's one of the few countries that carries out the import, export, swap and barter of natural gas at the same time.
Iran plans to begin supplying natural gas to neighboring Iraq on a regular basis in May.
The pipe laying project is currently underway on the Iraqi side of the border.
Tehran and Baghdad signed a draft deal in 2013 over transfer of Iran’s natural gas to two Iraqi power plants.
The agreement is aimed at supplying Al-Baghdad and Al-Mansouriyah power plants in Iraq with 25 million cubic meters (mcm) per day of natural gas.
Iran was ranked first, with 33.6 trillion cubic meters, in a 2014 BP statistical review of the world countries in terms of natural gas reserves.
