Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.24
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Iran will not offer any discount on selling gas to Turkey, the Mehr News Agency quoted Iranian deputy oil minister Hamidreza Araqi as saying on Feb. 24.
Referring to Turkey's complaint regarding the prices for Iran's supplied gas to Turkey, he said Iran is committed to the verdict of the international court, but Turkey's complaint will not be beneficial for them.
The final verdict may be announced three to six months later, he noted.
The International Arbitration Court's hearing on Turkey's suit against Iran regarding the prices for supplied gas was to be held on Feb. 17, Turkish news agency Anadolu reported on Feb. 12.
If the court rules in Turkey's favor, Tehran will be obliged to provide Turkey with a 30 percent discount on gas supplied.
Ankara appealed to the International Court of Arbitration on the price for Iranian gas in March 2012.
An agreement on the annual supply of 10 billion cubic meters of gas from Iran to Turkey was signed in 1996.
Gas prices are not officially disclosed. But Turkey buys Iranian gas at a price of $490 per 1,000 cubic meters, according to the Turkish media.
Turkey imported 7.5 billion cubic meters of gas from Iran in 2012. Earlier, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yildiz reported that the country imported gas from Iran worth $4.5 billion in 2013, according to BP Energy Outlook.
Moreover, the minister stressed that with a ruling in Turkey's favor, the country may receive more than $2 billion.
On Feb. 16, Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said that Tehran is studying a request from Turkey to double its natural gas imports from the Islamic Republic, Press TV reported.
Zanganeh added that Ankara has offered to raise its gas purchase from Iran to 20 billion cubic meters (bcm) a year.