Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec.19/ Trend F.Milad
Iran will continue to resume gas imports from Turkmenistan in exchange for supplying oil and gas industry equipment to its northeastern neighbor, Deputy Oil Minister Javad Owji said on Wednesday, SHANA News Agency reported.
During his visit to Ashgabat, Owji held talks with senior Turkmen energy officials.
According to Owji, Tehran and Ashgabat singed a new memorandum of understanding, based on which Iran will supply oil and gas industry equipment to Turkmenistan.
The Fars News Agency also quoted an unnamed informed source as saying that Iran will resume importing 40 million cubic meters of gas per day from Turkmenistan in the next few days, on the condition of bartering gas and oil equipment in return.
According to the country's oil Minister Rostam Qasemi, Iran's gas import from Turkmenistan was halted in November due to a dispute over purchasing terms.
Based on existing contract between the two countries, Turkmenistan exports 27 to 30 million cubic meters per day of gas to Iran, to be consumed in northern parts of the country.
Iran ranks the second in the world in terms of natural gas reserves after Russia with available gas reserves estimated at over 33 trillion cubic meters.
However, Tehran buys natural gas from Turkmenistan to meet industrial and household demand for gas in northern regions which are far from the country's own fields clustered in the Persian Gulf.