Baku, Azerbaijan, April 10
By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:
Turning Caspian Sea gas into electricity would be far more profitable, said a former Iranian official.
Mahmoud Khaghani, a former CEO of the Iranian Oil Ministry's Caspian and Central Asia Affairs bureau told Trend, April 10.
Khaghani who served as the director for energy, minerals and environment at the ECO Secretariat in 1996-2000 pointed out that Iran, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan are members of ECO, adding now that Azerbaijan is the Secretariate of ECO, it can tap the organization's capacities in turning the area's gas resources more profitable.
He said that during the third ministerial meeting of ECO (December 2008), the members of ECO decided to convert a part of their gas production to electricity and establish a power grid to export the power to other countries like Iraq, Syria, and even to the EU.
Khaghani added that exporting power is more profitable than exporting the raw natural gas.
Khaghani, nevertheless, believes that Iran can cooperate on projects of exporting Caspian gas to Europe, but the best choice would be to launch a joint consortium to turn gas into electricity and sell it regionally.
The president of Azerbaijan's State Oil Company Rovnag Abdullayev told reporters Apr. 4 that Iran is interested in purchasing a stake in the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP).
He said SOCAR stands ready to consider the offers for the sale of a part of its share in TANAP.
On the other hand, the head of Communications at The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) Lisa Givert told Trend on April 7 that this project is open to addition of new shareholders. Givert was commenting on the possible interest from Iran in acquiring a share in TAP project following the removal of sanctions imposed on the country.
Khaghani says Iran holds 10 percent shares of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field which is expected to export 16 billion cubic meters of gas to Turkey and Europe per year through TANAP and TAP.
He says mechanisms have to be defined in the region based on regional joint cooperation, where gas is seen not as a raw asset, but as material for producing much more profitable petrochemical products and electricity.
He says that major regional projects are now under the influence of the West's media barrage and political moves.
But if we look at the gas projects through economic profit, supporting the rights and security of the producer and consumer (especially those of gas), creating a power hub would be less costly and more economical.
He noted that if Russia is ready to sell gas to Europe at a very low price, it sure would be resolute on its decision to build pipelines to export Turkmenistan gas to the west of the Caspian Sea (Trans-Caspian Pipeline).
On the other side, regional projects are influenced by political motivations rather than economic criteria, therefore if regional countries start cooperation, it will be much better than rivalries which come at great costs, the former official asserted.