Swapping natural gas with Russia to provide the northern provinces with the strategic commodity is definitely more commercially viable than importing it from Turkmenistan, Majlis Energy Commission's spokesman said on Tuesday.
"Instead of extending natural gas transmission pipelines from Asalouyeh in the south to northern provinces, it is much more economical to transfer gas from Asalouyeh to southern states in the Persian Gulf and to import the equivalent amount from Russia," Hossein Amiri-Khamkani was quoted as saying by ILNA. Pointing to the massive expenses of transferring gas from the south to the north, Amiri-Khamkani said economically speaking, oil swap operations with Russian firms are viable.
"Where we receive gas is of great importance. We should import gas from the nearest point possible so that it does not incur extra costs."
According to the official, Iran should take advantage of its strategic and unique location. In other words, it should not miss the opportunity to swap energy with the neighboring countries.
Hamidreza Araqi, deputy oil minister, had already announced that Iran was ready to start swapping around 300 million cubic meters of natural gas per day from Russia in the north to the southern terminals in the Persian Gulf.
"Russia, Turkmenistan and other gas-rich countries in the north consider Iran as a safe route for gas swap," he said, stressing that Iran has the infrastructure to swap Moscow's gas.
