Baku, Azerbaijan, June 4
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
The Philippines has expressed readiness to build an LNG plant in southern Iran and purchase gas from the country, Mehr news agency reported June 4.
The issue was discussed during a meeting of Amir Hossein Zamaninia, the Iranian deputy oil minister and Pedro Aquino, head of the Philippino National Oil Company (PNOC) in Tehran.
"The Philippines would like to build an LNG plant in Iran with a capacity of 18 million tons per year," Zamaninia said after the meeting.
He further said that the country also wants Iran to provide gas for the facility.
The plant will be built by a consortium made up of the PNOC and a European company, Zamaninia said.
The talks on the issue will continue on an expert level, he said, adding once the details are determined, grounds will be prepared for further cooperation between Tehran and Manila in oil and gas projects.
Iran says that LNG export to foreign markets including the EU is its priority.
Earlier Jafar Pourfarjoudi, spokesperson of Iran's Oil Ministry told Trend, that the Islamic Republic is planning to obtain the floating liquefied natural gas vessels (FLNG) as a solution for exporting gas to distant markets.
Iran's proven gas reserve stood at 34 trillion cubic meters as of early 2015, according to BP. The country's share on the world gas market is 17 percent.