Tehran, Iran, March 14
Trend:
Head of the Union of Iranian Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Product Exporters said that joining to the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline is improbable due to Iranэs direct link to Europe through 2 other corridors.
"We were interested to join the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, and we also participated in the Shah Deniz project, which is a gas project, but the set of foreign policies of the country and the sensitivities that exist will not allow us to use existing lines to reach the market in Europe,” Hamid Hosseini told Trend.
"We are turning into a regional power and we have to negotiate in the region with Iraq, Syria and Lebanon," he added.
“In cooperation with these countries, we can connect to Europe,” he said. “So our logistical position will change dramatically. On the other hand, we reach the Iraqi, Syrian, Lebanese markets for gas exports through such corridor.”
He pointed to the second Iranian route for gas exports to Europe.
"Given Turkey's relationship with Western Europe, we can connect to Europe via Turkey," Hosseini suggested. “We should either design a new route through Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, or connect to Europe in cooperation with Turkey."
He went on to say that Iran has a link with Turkey and can have more market share in Turkey due to the growing need for gas.
“I do not think we need to use the BTC pipeline," Hosseini said, explaining that 8 million cubic meters of Iran's export capacity to Turkey is empty and if completed, Iran will benefit from it.