The construction of Iran Gas Trunkline (IGAT), especially its sixth line, is gaining momentum, as it tops the list of priorities of Iran’s gas industry.
Noting that the second section of IGAT-6, with a length of 600 kilometers, is currently under construction, Mohammad Reza Qodsizadeh, the planning director of National Iranian Gas Company, said this pipeline is of high importance as it can deliver gas to Iraq.
Qodsizadeh stressed that in addition to raising gas transfer capacity to Iran’s west and northwestern areas, IGAT-6 will make it possible to export more gas to the neighboring Arab country, Shana reported.
In July 2015, a build-operate-transfer contract to expand IGAT-6 was signed by Gas Engineering and Development Company and Pasargad Energy Development Company. The project includes laying 590 km of pipeline in addition to installing five gas compressor stations at an estimated cost of $2.2 billion. The project is due to finish in two years.
An important section of IGAT-6 is a 48-inch pipeline, which is 141 km long, from Ahvaz, the provincial capital of Khuzestan, to the city of Khorramshahr, which shares border with Iraq. The pipeline is aimed at supplying gas to Iraq’s Basra.
Amirhossein Zamaninia, the deputy oil minister for international affairs, announced on March 9 that Iran is all set to commence natural gas delivery to Iraq at the border in three weeks. He made the statement after holding talks with Iraqi Deputy Oil Minister Fayadh Hassan Nima in Tehran.
“A majority of hurdles to undertake long-awaited joint ventures have been cleared and Iraq does not have serious problems in materializing the agreements it reached with Iran," Zamaninia added.
Although exports were expected to commence by the end of May 2015, Iranian officials blame technical and financial issues, which seem to have been settled, for the delays. Iran sits on the world's largest gas reserves, according to statistics compiled by BP. It holds 17% of the world's proven natural gas reserves.
Another route for exporting gas to Iraq is from Naftshahr region in Kermanshah Province by diverging branches of IGAT-6.
Tehran and Baghdad signed a draft deal in 2013 to transfer Iran’s gas to two Iraqi power plants. There are plans to export 30-50 million cubic meters of gas per day to Iraq, the revenues from which is estimated at $4-6 billion.
“NIGC will start laying those parts of IGAT-9, which are prioritized over other sections, in the current Iranian year (started March 20),” Qodsizadeh said, adding that the company will embark on boosting the infrastructure of eastern and southern provinces.
He also stressed that increasing gas transfer capacity to the provinces of Hormozgan, Kerman, Sistan-Baluchestan and South Khorasan is on the agenda.
