Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Apr. 2 / Trend H.Hasanov /
Turkmengaz held talks with Iranian First Vice President on Economic Issues Aga Mohammadi. Earlier, the official met with the the Cabinet of Ministers and the Turkmen Foreign Ministry, an official Turkmen source reported.
The sides discussed cooperation in the oil and gas, trade and construction sectors. Iran is an important natural gas importer for Turkmenistan.
Turkmenistan borders Iran's northern provinces, which are far removed from the country's gas fields and distribution network. This raised questions about the suitability of opening gas flow between the two countries in the 1990s. A gas pipeline was launched in 1996 from the western Korpejin gas field in the direction of Iran-Gurtgui. The annual volume of gas supplies gradually increased to 8 billion cubic meters. In early 2010, Turkmenistan commissioned a second gas pipeline from the eastern Dovletabad field to the Iranian border.
The new gas pipeline will initially deliver 6 billion cubic meters of gas and the volume will eventually increase to 12 billion. Roughly 20 billion cubic meters of gas will be transferred to Iran via both pipelines.
Experts say it is possible to increase the capacity of the western pipeline if demand grows.