Iran is in talks with Azerbaijan to finalize the long-term Azeri gas importation deal within the next three months, the managing director of National Iranian Gas Export Company (NIGEC) said on Wednesday, Tehran Times reported.
Seyed Reza Kasaeizadeh added that the deal will allow supplying about 5 million cubic meters of the Azerbaijani gas per day (about 1.8 billion cubic meters per year) to Iran.
The existing infrastructure allows delivering about 500 million cubic meters of gas per year, he noted. State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and NIGEC signed a short-term contract in mid-January for Azerbaijani gas supplies to Iran.
The contract envisages Azerbaijani gas supplies to Iran to the total amount of 100 million cubic meters (1.2 million cubic meters of gas per day) through March-April.
Iran's north regions distant from major gas fields will be supplied with Azerbaijani gas.
Azerbaijan and Iran are connected with the Kazi-Magomed-Astara gas pipeline which is 1474.5 kilometers long.
Its capacity is 10 billion cubic meters per year. This route is a branch of the pipeline Gazakh-Astara-Iran, put into operation in 1971