IRAN PUSHES PERSIAN PIPELINE AS EUROPEAN ALTERNATIVE TO RUSSIAN GAS

Eurasianet

April 1, 2009

Iran’s proposed Persian pipeline could be the perfect alternative to
Europe’s reliance on Russian gas, Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein
Nozari says.

Nozari said that negotiations with European partners were underway
and that Syria, Iran and Iraq should sign a cooperation agreement to
realize the project, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported
on April 1. "In accordance with a project being developed, Iranian
gas will be supplied to European countries via Iraq, Syria and the
Mediterranean Sea, and further onto Greece and Italy," Nozari said
April 1 during a visit to Syria.

Iran has the potential to rival Russia as a gas exporter, if it
meets its stated goal of tripling production to 475 billion cubic
meters (bcm) a year by 2020. The Persian pipeline would use existing
infrastructure, the I-Gas 9 pipeline, to transport the fuel as far as
the Turkish border. The I-Gas 9 pipeline has the capacity to carry
40 bcm of gas annually. Iranian officials say the country has 28
trillion cubic meters of proven natural gas reserves.