Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 25
By Dalga Khatinoglu - Trend:
Iran exported 4.4 billion cubic meters of gas to Turkey and Armenia during first half of current Iranian year, which started on March 20, Mehr News Agency reported on Dec.25 based on Oil Ministry's statistics.
According to the report, the country also imported 1.2 billion cubic meters of gas from Turkmenistan during the mentioned period.
The report says that during first six month of Iranian calendar, the country received 200 mcm of gas from Azerbaijan of which 130 mcm was delivered to Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.
Iran and Azerbaijan has a gas swap agreement, while Iran barters its gas with Armenia's electricity.
Iran also committed to export 10 bcm of gas to Turkey annually based on an agreement signed in 1996, but hasn't been able to supply this amount.
According to BP annual statistics, Iran could export only 7.5 bcm of gas to Turkey during 2012.
With 33.6 trillion gas reserves, Iran holds the biggest gas reserves in the world. Iran shares 18 percent of proved global gas reserves, but the nation's gas consumption is huge.
BP says Iran produced 160.5 bcm of gas in 2012, of which 156 bcm was consumed.
However, Mehr reported that the country's dried gas output reached 165 bcm this year and it is expected to increase to 170 bcm by the end of current Iranian year (March 19, 2014).
If the current trend continues, Iran's domestic gas consumption will reach 2.5 billion cubic meters per day by 2025, head of Iran's Oil Industry Research Center Hamidreza Katouzian warned, the SHANA News Agency reported on Dec.17.
"During the past year, some 1.5 million customers have been added to the country's national gas network, which has led to an increase of 60 mcm per day in the country's total consumption, he explained.