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Iran cannot replace Russia as gas supplier to EU

Business Materials 2 September 2015 11:55 (UTC +04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 2

By Fatih Karimov - Trend:

The Iranian Secretary General of Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) Mohammad Hossein Adeli says neither Iran nor other country can replace Russia as the main gas supplier to Europe.

"Basically, I do not think that Iran wants to replace Russia. But, if Europe seeks to diversify sources to meet its energy demands, some countries, particularly Iran, can do the job," Adeli said, ISNA news agency reported Sept. 2.

"I do not believe that exporting Iranian gas to Europe via pipeline is not economically justified. In my opinion, both exporting via pipeline and exporting in the form of LNG are economically justified."

Iran is the most important country which can meet a portion of the EU need to gas in the future, he noted.

GECF is a gathering of the world's leading gas producers and was set up as an international governmental organization with the objective of increasing the level of coordination and strengthening collaboration among member countries.

Iran has been pursuing multiple projects for years to pipe natural gas to Europe. The most serious project was Nabucco which was pursued by an international consortium led by Austria's OMV. Iran had been originally designated in Nabucco as a key supplier for future exports to Europe.

However, the country was sidelined from the scheme in 2008 due to a series of complications that emerged - the most important of which were US sanctions that banned foreign investments in Iran's energy sector.

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