Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Nov.26 / Trend H. Hasanov /
Iranian delegation headed by Petroleum Minister Rostam Ghasemi is scheduled to visit Turkmenistan in the near future in order to hold talks on issues of mutual interest, Iranian media outlets reported on Monday.
The question is about possible increase in Turkmen gas imports in the near future. It is expected that daily volume will grow up to 40 million cubic meters, IRNA reported on Monday with reference to Deputy Oil Minister, Director General of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) Javad Oji.
He said in the last six months, Iran received 4-5 million cubic meters of gas per day from Turkmenistan on average, "and given the outcome of negotiations between the two countries it is expected the volume of supplies will increase up to 40-million cubic meters of gas after two or three weeks".
According to the report, the entire infrastructure, particularly in the north and north-east of the country, is ready for the winter period. New high-pressure compressor installations (in Parchin, Semnan and Dasht) are put into operation and main gas pipeline are connected to each other. This enables us to hope that gas will be supplied in the winter months in normal mode.
Since 1995, Turkmenistan has been transporting natural gas to Iran, after Korpedje-Gurtguyu gas pipeline which originates from the western fields of the country was commissioned. The potential to increase capacity is about 14 billion cubic meters of gas a year.
Since the end of December 2009 the neighbouring countries have opened additional capacity.
The Dovletabad-Sarahs gas pipeline with a capacity of up to six billion cubic meters per year was constructed from the Iranian border to the east of Turkmenistan. There is potential to double the capacity of the pipeline. The main buyer of Turkmen gas is the National Iranian Gas Export Company.
Earlier gas supply via the Artyk-Lyutfabad pipeline was suspended a few days ago at the request of the Iranian side due to the need for repair work on their territory.
After the repair work was completed, gas supplies were resumed.