Azerbaijan, Baku, March 7 / Trend E.Ismayilov /
The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) may begin commercial gas deliveries to Iran by March 20, a source in the oil and gas market said on Monday.
The source added that the compressor shop built near the compressor station in Astara is ready for operation.
"Everything is ready for the start of deliveries. Gas supplies could begin by March 20," the source said.
SOCAR and NIGEC signed an agreement on long-term Azerbaijani gas supplies to Iran in Baku on Jan. 12. Under the contract, which concludes after five years, Azerbaijan will supply 1 billion cubic meters of gas to Iran in 2011 and the volume will increase in the coming years.
The contract was signed by SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev and NIGEC General Director Javad Oji.
Azerbaijan and Iran are connected with the Astara-Bind-Biand gas pipeline with a length of 1,474.5 kilometers, including 296.5 kilometers in Azerbaijan. Its design capacity was 10 billion cubic meters a year and now it is lower. The route is a branch of the Gazakh-Astara-Iran Pipeline commissioned in 1971. Three compressor stations, including in Gazi-Magomed, Aghdash and Gazakh, were built on its route. The transmission system is designed to pressure 55 atmospheres. The pipe's diameter is 1,200 mm.