Iran Negotiating Contracts to Construct Gas Pipelines to Azerbaijan, Armenia,
and Kuwait

17 April 04

TEHRAN (MNA) — Iran is prepared to supply natural gas to the
Azerbaijan Republic through a gas pipeline if the two countries agree
to a contract guaranteeing the purchases, a senior Oil Ministry
official said here Friday.

The managing director of the state-owned National Iran Gas Export Co.
(NIGEC), Roknoaddin Javadi, said that there is no formidable obstacle
in the way of the plan and Iran is only waiting for the Azeri side to
agree to the guarantees.

However, the guarantees must be acceptable for Iran, he stressed.

Iran has also reached preliminary agreements with Armenia and Kuwait
on the construction of gas pipelines to those countries.

It is expected that the deal with Armenia will be finalized soon, the
official added.

On Monday, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh announced that a
draft contract for gas exports to Armenia has been prepared, adding
that Iran’s exports to Armenia will start at 500 million cu. m. per
year and could be increased to 1.5 billion cu. m. per year.

The minister said that Armenian officials would be signing the
contract in the near future, according to PIN.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress