A deputy oil minister said gas export to Pakistan and India is economically viable, in spite of Qatar’s policy of selling gas cheaply.
“As most of Iran’s exported gas is extracted from joint fields, exports are always viable,” Hamidreza Araqi, who is also managing director of National Iranian Gas Company, said.
Araqi was commenting on Qatar’s heavy gas discounts to Pakistan and India, Shana reported.
According to data, Qatar’s extraction from South Pars Gas Field is 1.6 times higher than that of Iran.
The official called for assessing ongoing changes in the global gas market.
“The drop in gas price may affect plans, such as those pertaining to US shale gas production, negatively and make them less profitable,” he added.
Araqi noted that Tehran and Moscow have held negotiations on a wide range of issues, including a gas swap plan, but an agreement has not been reached.
“The finalization of a swap deal with Russia depends on factors such as the price of liquefied natural gas as well as market conditions,” he said.
The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic is considering the possibility of delivering Russian gas to Iran, based on which Russia could deliver gas to Iran’s north and receive the same volume of gas from the south through a swap deal.
In addition, negotiations have been held with Turkmen oil companies over the past few months to swap its gas by supplying it to the UAE.
Iran plans to ramp up gas production capacity by 1 billion cubic meters per day in two years. A long-term plan calls for raising gas output to1.2 bcm/d by 2025.