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Oil Minister: Iran, Oman to sign gas contract soon

Iran Materials 7 September 2013 22:28 (UTC +04:00)
Tehran and Muscat will soon sign a gas contract, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Friday.
Oil Minister: Iran, Oman to sign gas contract soon

Azerbaijan, Baku, Sep.6/ Trend R.Zamanov

Tehran and Muscat will soon sign a gas contract, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Friday.

"Based on the agreement, Iran is supposed to export 30 million cubic meters of gas per day to Oman," the Mehr News Agency quoted Zanganeh as saying.

"Once the contract is signed, Iran will annually earn two billion dollars by exporting gas to Mascut," he added.

Zanganeh went on to note that Oman will use part of Iran's exported gas for domestic use, while exporting the rest.

The oil minister also said that he still defends the Crescent Gas Contract.

Zanganeh has been repeatedly criticised by conservatives over the financial uncertainties of the contract.

The conservatives and their media have lately increased their attacks against Zanganeh for not being clear in signing a 25-year gas contract with UAE`s Crescent Company when he was Iran's Oil Minister in 2001.

Under the contract worth up to $1 billion, Iran agreed to export some 500 million cubic feet a day of natural gas from the Salman gas field to UAE.

The opponents argued that the gas price in the contract has been set below the market prices.

Head of the Kayhan newspaper Hossein Shariatmadari, appointed by Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei accused Bijan Namdar Zanganeh of concluding a 'shameful' deal to supply Iran's natural gas 14 times below the current prices to foreigners.

Zanganeh said he will provide an explanation for the contract in parliament's Energy Committee soon, the Islamic Consultative Assembly news agency (ICANA) reported.

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