Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 6
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh will visit Baku Aug. 7 to discuss the cooperation in oil and gas sector with Azerbaijani officials.
Zanganeh, who will accompany Iranian president Hassan Rouhani in his two-day visit to Baku, will discuss joint exploitation of oil and gas fields in the Caspian Sea, as well as development of oil and gas trade, in particular resuming oil and gas swap with Azerbaijani officials, Mehr news agency reported Aug. 6.
The Iranian minister earlier expressed Tehran’s readiness for swap of crude oil and natural gas with Azerbaijan.
Earlier this week Iran’s Deputy Oil Minister Hamid Reza Araghi said that Tehran is negotiating with Azerbaijan to store its gas in the underground gas storage facilities of the country.
Araghi, who heads the National Iranian Gas Company, said that talks are underway with a private company on the issue.
Heading a high-ranking delegation, President Rouhani will leave Tehran for Baku on Aug. 7 to attend trilateral talks with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.
Rouhani is expected to discuss the expansion of trilateral cooperation in commerce, energy, telecommunications, environment, transportation spheres and the fight against terrorism.
Iranian president is also expected to have a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev to follow up the implementation of already reached agreements in commerce, industry, energy, culture, banking, consular facilities and telecommunications, in particular, in railway transportation.