IranMania News, Iran
Jan 31 2007

Iran, Armenia gas pipeline operational by spring

Wednesday, January 31, 2007 – ©2005 IranMania.com

LONDON, January 31 (IranMania) – A natural gas pipeline linking Iran
and Armenia will become operational this coming spring, a spokesman
for the Armenian president said.

The construction of the 141-kilometer (90-mile) pipeline from Iran
began in 2004. It has a price tag of about $210-220 mln, including
$120 mln for the Armenian section, RIA Novosti reported.

`The gas pipeline will be commissioned this spring. Only then will it
be possible to say whether it will be a transit system. In any case,
Yerevan has always been guided by considerations of economic
expediency. Economic projects that had a political subtext have
always been rejected by the Armenian authorities,` Viktor Sogomonyan
said.

Under the current agreement, Iran is to deliver 36 bln cubic meters
of natural gas to Armenia over the next 20 years, subject to a
possible five-year extension and an increase in deliveries to 47 bln
cubic meters.

Armenia plans to use all of the gas to produce electricity for
subsequent export to Iran, as well as for domestic consumption.

Sogomonyan also confirmed that Russian energy giant Gazprom was
considering a project to build an oil refinery in southern Armenia
near the Iranian border.

`I can confirm that Russia’s Gazprom is considering the possibility
of building an oil refinery in Armenia,` Sogomonyan said, adding that
negotiations were in the initial stage.

He said Armenian President Robert Kocharyan had discussed the project
during his visit to Russia last week. Russian President Vladimir
Putin said after the talks that Russian mobile operator VimpelCom,
aluminum company RusAl and Gazprom would double their investment in
the Armenian economy to $1.5 bln.