Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov.1/ Trend F.Karimov/
Iran has reduced its dependency on importing natural gas from Turkmenistan by establishing new gas pressure boost stations, the Mehr News Agency quoted Managing director of Iran's Gas Engineering and Development Company, Ali-Reza Gharibi, as saying.
Three gas pressure boost stations have become operationa, which increased the country's gas transfer capacity by 150 million cubic meters per day, he said.
The new projects will also lead to an improvement in the stability of the gas supply to the northern and north-eastern provinces of the country, he noted.
Meanwhile, Managing Director of the National Iranian Gas Company Hamidreza Araqi said on October 1 that Iran continues to import gas from Turkmenistan based on a new agreement.
Moreover, the Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has said that during last month's visit to Ashgabat, he negotiated with Turkmen officials on the two countries gas deal.
"We didn't discuss any new contract, but negotiated details in the previously signed contract," the IRNA News Agency quoted Zanganeh as saying.
"We intend to resume gas imports from Turkmenistan in exchange for exporting technical and engineering services to our northern neighbour," he added.
Abdol-Hamid Asadian, head of the Trade Promotion Organisation's bureau for Europe and the Americas said in March that Iran buys about $3 billion of natural gas from Turkmenistan a year, Bloomberg reported.
The report didn't provide details of the arrangement.
The nation which is the holder of the world's second largest gas deposits, imported 12 billion cubic meters from Turkmenistan in the Iranian calendar year of 1390, ended March 20, 2012.
However the figure fell to 4.5 billion cubic meters in the previous calendar year ended March 20.
The Mehr News Agency reported last December that Iran owes one billion dollars to Turkmenistan over gas imports.
Tightening banking and energy sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme have complicated financial transactions with the Persian Gulf country.