Most of the infrastructure is in place to export natural gas from western Kurdestan Province to Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, provincial head of the National Iranian Gas Company said.
"NIGC is ready to export 8 million cubic meters of gas per day to Iraqi Kurdistan in the north," Ahmad Felegari was quoted as saying by IRNA.
Felegari said talks are underway with Iraqi officials to complete technical and financial details.
"As soon as negotiations produce results, NIGC will start gas exports to the region through a diversion of the Marivan-Saqqez pipeline," he said.
Almost the total Kurdestan region in Iran, with a population of 1.6 million people in urban and rural areas, is connected to the national gas grid. Moreover, 1,700 kilometers of high-pressure pipelines have been laid in the mountainous province, where at times temperature drops to -20°C.
Not long ago cities like Baneh, Marivan and Saqqez could not get enough gas due to technical limitations. Extension of the grid over the past few years has not only solved the gas pressure reduction problems but also paved the way for export to neighbors.
The Marivan-Saqqez pipeline is a branch of the Sixth Iran Gas Trunkline (IGAT-6) with a capacity to transfer 110 mcm of gas per day from South Pars Gas Field in the Persian Gulf to the southern and western regions, namely Kurdestan and Kermanshah provinces.
The total Kurdestan region in Iran, with a population of 1.6 million people in urban and rural areas, is connected to the national gas grid
Turkey and Iraq are the main buyers of Iranian gas. The former signed a 25-year deal in 1996 to buy 10 billion cubic meters of the fossil fuel from Iran annually through a pipeline and the latter is importing 12 million cm/d from June 2017.
According to BP Statistical Review of World Energy, Iran holds as much as 34 trillion cubic meters of natural gas that is 18% of the world proven reserves. But it is not a major player when it comes to gas export as bulk of the gas is consumed in the country.
Need for Normal Ties
Narsi Qorban, a prominent Iranian energy analyst from London University, believes that there is a direct link between exporting gas and normalization of ties with neighbors and the international community.
"Political considerations and gas pipelines are interconnected and the latter cannot be expanded if the former is not well-managed," he added.
It is regrettable that with such massive reserves, policymakers have not yet been able to increase exports, he noted.
There is a general consensus among energy experts including Qorban and Mohammad Hossein Adeli, a former secretary general of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum that Iran should focus on liquefied natural gas exports. They recall that shipping liquefied gas is less risky compared to piped exports and more cost-effective for faraway countries.
According to Adeli completion of the Iran LNG, the country's largest LNG venture, will transform Iran into a major player in the international gas market.
Reportedly, the Iran LNG project, at Tombak Port, 50km north of Asalouyeh Port in Bushehr Province, has made 60% progress and so far cost $1.85 billion.
"Completing past projects and devising new initiatives for producing 50 million tons of LNG per annum can help guarantee the country's share of natural gas exports in the international market," Adeli said.
There is no consensus among Tehran officials when it comes to exporting gas, he said without elaboration.
"So long as officials do not come up with a unified policy on the issue, devising a long-term roadmap for investments in development plans will be close to impossible," he said.
