Iran exports around 1 million cubic meters of natural gas to Armenia, but the volume can significantly rise considering the untapped capacity of the Iran-Armenia gas export pipeline, head of the National Iranian Gas Export Company said.
"Iran can export 6 million liters of gas per day to Armenia, but the northwestern neighbor cannot take advantage of the pipeline's untapped capacity due to lack of infrastructure (for gas refining and storage)," Alireza Kameli was quoted as saying by ISNA.
He was speaking on the sidelines of a meeting between Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh and his Armenian counterpart Yervand Zakharyan in Tehran on Sunday, in which the two discussed a gas-for-electricity deal.
Annual gas exports' capacity to Armenia stands at around 1.1 billion to 2.3 billion cubic meters.
"Tehran imports 3 kilowatt-hours of electricity from Yerevan in exchange for 1 cubic meter of natural gas," Kameli said, stressing that the terms of the present agreement will be revised in the near future.
According to reports, an Iranian-Armenian commission is working on issues related to establishing infrastructure for Iranian gas transit to the West via Armenia.
Zakharyan said Iran's power imports from Armenia will increase fivefold in 2018 upon the completion of a third transmission line between the two countries.
Two 220-kilowatt transmission lines currently run from Iran to Armenia and the Export Development Bank of Iran is set to allocate $93 million for the development of greater cross-border transmission.
