Iran, Turkmenistan to launch gas pipeline

Iran and Turkmenistan are expected to launch a new gas pipeline to raise natural gas supplies to the Islamic Republic by 20 billion cubic meters (bcm) a year, Press TV reported.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Turkmen counterpart Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov are scheduled to inaugurate the new 31-kilometer pipeline at the Dovletebad gas field in southeastern Turkmenistan on Wednesday.

Iran currently imports about 8 billion bcm a year from Turkmenistan via another pipeline.

"...launching the pipeline... will allow (Turkmenistan), along with existing facilities, to raise natural gas supplies to Iran to 20 billion cubic meters a year," the Turkmen Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"The realization of the gas pipeline plays a big role in strengthening the energy security of the countries of the region," Ahmadinejad told reporters after talks with Berdymukhamedov in Ashgabat on Tuesday.

"The Turkmenistan-Iran pipeline is not only an economic project but an event uniting our countries with the aim of strengthening our partnership," he said.

Iran uses Turkmen gas to supply its northern provinces and free up more of its own gas for exports.