Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.2
By Umid Niayesh- Trend:
An international court of arbitration in Geneva, Switzerland rejected Turkey's appeal against Iran, a top Iranian Oil Ministry official said.
The Managing Director National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) Azizollah Ramazani told Shana on Dec.2 that Turkey was in claim that Iran's gas delivery is not reliable and requested the gas price decrease due to Iran's failure to carry out its commitments based on the gas agreement sealed in 1996.
According to the mentioned agreement, Iran should export about 10 billion cubic meters of gas per annum (bcma) to Turkey. However, the Iranian gas delivered to Turkey hasn't reached this level yet. Iran's gas export to this country was about 8.4 bcma in 2013.
The Iranian government hasn't announced the price of exported gas to Turkey, but according to Turkish sources, the price stands at $480 per one thousand cubic meters.
Ramazani said that Turkey appealed against Iran to the International Court of Arbitration in 2012 and the court ruled in Iran's favor in Nov.10.
Ramazani added that there is another appeal against Iran by Turkey in the International Court of Arbitration, related to gas price due to commercial arguments is being reviewed in the court.
Turkish Butash Oil and Gas Company, a partner of the National Iranian Gas Company. brought Turkey's complaint to the international court of arbitration.
In 1996, Tehran and Ankara signed an agreement on gas exports for 25 years that will expire in 2026. Ankara has ever since imported about 66 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Iran.