AsiaNews.it, Italy
Nov 10 2006

Increasing Russian control of Iranian gas

Russia’s energy giant Gazprom takes over Iran-Armenia gas pipeline;
Russian government is interested in participating in
Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline. From Moscow Iranian nuclear
negotiator threatens to review Iran’s ties with IAEA if Russian
amendments are not included in Security Council draft resolution on
his country’s nuclear programme.

London (AsiaNews) – Whilst Tehran is threatening to `re-examine’ its
relations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) if the
United Nations accepts a draft resolution proposed by the EU3 group
(UK, France and Germany) without Russia’s amendments, Russia’s giant
energy company Gazprom is picking up energy deals. In the latest one,
it bought control in a gas pipeline project between Iran and Armenia.
The Russian government is also getting involved in another project
that would see a pipeline bring gas from Iran to Pakistan and India.
All in all, these plans are worth billions of dollars if one
considers that Iran, which holds 18 per cent of the world’s known
reserves, is second biggest gas supplier after Russia.

Gazprom raised its stake in ArmRosGaz, a company that controls both
Armenia’s domestic gas distribution business and the
soon-to-be-completed gas pipeline from Iran, to 58 per cent.

Last year it had signed an agreement with the Armenian government
under which Armenia would have to pay only US$ 110 per cubic metre of
gas or about half the market price. In doing so, Gazprom will run
Iranian gas supplies to Europe, rid itself of a potential competitor
and achieve near monopoly in gas supplies to Western Europe.

`We hope to use the joint venture to become involved in extraction
and development [of Iranian gas],’ Alexander Medvedev, deputy
chairman of Gazprom, told The Times. And there is a lot of extraction
and development to do. Analysts in fact believe that 62 per cent of
Iran’s potential gas reserves – estimated at 27,000 billion cubic
metres – remain undeveloped.

But that is not all. Indian Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli
Deora said that Russia was keen to participate in all aspects of the
proposed multi-million dollar Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline
project.

In a recent visit to Moscow, Mr Deora said that Russia’s Industry and
Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko expressed his country’s interest in
participating `in the technical and financial aspects of the proposed
Iran gas pipeline’

A final decision about this undertaking, with both Pakistan and India
as active participants, will be taken by the two governments and that
of Iran at a meeting yet to be scheduled but expected to be announced
in the next few days.

At the same time, Iran has made it clear that nuclear fuel production
will remain part of its energy strategy notwithstanding any
disagreement with the IAEA.

>From Moscow where he is currently on a visit, Ali Larijani, secretary
of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and Iran’s top nuclear
negotiator, said that Iran would review its ties with the
International Atomic Energy Agency if the draft resolution presented
in the last few days by the United Kingdom, France and Germany was
approved.

Russia has for its part submitted some amendments to the draft
proposal, which calls for sanctions, whose effects would be to lessen
its punitive aspects.