Tehran, Iran, July 31
By Mehdi Sepahvand -- Trend:
An Iranian official said the country can stretch a gas pipeline to Europe with €10 billion.
Azizollah Ramezani, director of international affairs at the National Iranian Gas Company, said so far nothing new has happened regarding gas export to Europe and stressed as the situation seems ripe, strong will is needed and the sides should pursue talks seriously.
He pointed out that according to studies conducted by the European Parliament, Iran could export 25 to 30 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe annually.
The expansion of the South Pars gas field has given Iran the opportunity to be able to send gas to Europe, he said, adding Iran can export gas to Europe via eight routes.
The European Union member countries currently provide 22 to 23 percent of energy they use from natural gas.
The European Parliament's researches have shown the continent can import gas from 12 countries, including Iran.
Iran has the long-term potential to become one of the world's top gas producers, thanks to its 34 trillion cubic meters of natural gas reserves, or around 18 percent of the world's total, Fitch Ratings said in a report on July 10.
Iran is planning a number of gas export pipelines pending the removal of international sanctions. One example is IGAT- 9, a 35 bcm per year pipeline that Iran plans to use to send gas from South Pars to Europe via Turkey.
There are currently no transit pipelines in Turkey to deliver gas to the European markets.
Edited by CN