Iran is ready to cooperate in transferring Turkmenistan's gas to Pakistan via the Iran-Pakistan pipeline, the head of National Iranian Gas Company said.
"We can conduct the swap in a short time at a considerably lower cost," Hamidreza Araqi was also quoted as saying by IRNA on Sunday.
"We have expressed our readiness to Turkmenistan for the operation," he said, adding that the matter currently awaits the Turkmen response.
The Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, aka Peace Pipeline, is an under-construction 2,775-kilometer pipeline to deliver natural gas from Iran to Pakistan. The two countries signed an agreement in 2009 to implement the project.
Because of its geopolitical advantage, Iran has signed several swap deals in different sectors of energy with its neighbors.
According to Araqi, Iran currently swaps natural gas from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan.
Referring to the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project, the official said, "The pipeline is unlikely to become operational and pose challenge to the Peace Pipeline."
Araqi added that even if the project is completed in 10 years, there remain several obstacles, including security of the pipeline, which undermines its implementation.
TAPI is a planned 1,800-kilometer stretch of pipeline aimed at transferring natural gas from Turkmenistan to India.
Gas Export to Increase
Besides swaps, Iran exports about 30 million cubic meters of gas per day to Turkey and some 12 mcm/d to Iraq.
Basra has announced its readiness to receive Iran's gas and exports will commence as soon as an agreement is reached.
Iran and Iraq last year signed a gas deal, based on which Iran agreed to export a minimum of 7 mcm/d of natural gas to the Iraqi cities of Baghdad and Basra via pipeline.
Iranian gas supply to Baghdad started in June with the supply of about 12 million cubic meters per day.
The gas is exported from Naftshahr in Kermanshah Province to Baghdad through a pipeline diverging from the Sixth Iran Gas Trunkline (IGAT-6).
IGAT-6 is a major component of the national gas grid that, according to Araqi, will have the capacity to transfer 110 million cubic meters of gas per day from South Pars Gas Field in the Persian Gulf to southern and western regions.
However, no gas has yet reached Basra due to delays in completing infrastructures by the Iraqi side.
Basra, Iraq's second largest city, needs Iranian gas to feed its power plant as part of efforts to reduce outages that have turned into a persistent source of public discontent and the export will commence soon.
