Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 26
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Iran signed first ever contract to export natural gas from of LNG (liquefied natural gas), following months of negotiations, the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) announced.
The contract was signed between the NIOC and IFLNG (jointly owned by Iran’s Khark Gas Refining Company and Norway's Helma).
Under the contract Iran’s natural gas will be converted to LNG in a floating LNG vessel (FLNG), belonging to Belgium's Exmar.
The vessel namely, Caribbean FLNG, which is chartered by IFLNG company, has the capacity to produce 500,000 tons of LNG per year.
The 20-year contract, will to come into force within three months.
The Caribbean FLNG is expected to dock at Pars Service port in Persian Gulf in mid 2018, in order to receive 2.3 million cubic meters if natural gas per day from 7th South Pars Gas Refinery.
Earlier, Ali Kardor, head of the NIOC, commenting on the deal said that the pricing formula of the products will be determined by the Iranian Oil Ministry.
Launching FLNG and mini-LNG facilities will help Iran to diversify and expand its natural gas market, and take advantage of being the world’s largest natural gas holder.
These projects will also grant the country chance to use its flaring gas (mostly from burning associated gas in the oil sector) which currently amounted at about 11 billion cubic meters per year (bcm/y) by converting it into LNG.