Azerbaijan, Iran sign gas contract
15 December 2009 [18:42] – Today.Az
SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) and the National Iranian Gas
Export Company signed an agreement on supply of Azerbaijani gas to the
northern provinces of Iran during the winter and an agreement on
confidentiality, to hold negotiations on five-year contract (with
possibility of extension) for the supply of Azerbaijani gas, said the
statement by the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan.
It is planned that from the beginning of the year, Azerbaijani gas
will be delivered to Iran in certain volumes, in accordance with the
capacity of existing infrastructure between countries.
Currently, the infrastructure allows to deliver about 500 million
cubic meters of gas per year.
In the future, the sides intend to expand capacity by increasing the
capacity of gas compressor stations.
The gas price is not reported.
The Iranian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mohammad Bagir Bahrami said
earlier that Iran intends to purchase about 5 billion cubic meters of
gas from Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan has four directions of gas export, including Turkey,
Georgia, Russia and Iran.
At present, gas is exported to Turkey and Georgia. Azerbaijani gas
will be exported to Russia from early 2010. At present, Azerbaijan
exports gas upon swap conditions with further transfer of Iranian gas
to provide the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.
Azerbaijan and Iran are connected with the Qazimahammad-Astara
pipeline gas pipeline.
Its length is 1474.5 kilometers, including the territory of Azerbaijan
– 296.5 kilometers.
Its capacity is 10 billion cubic meters per year.
This route is a branch of the pipeline Gazakh-Astara-Iran, put into
operation in 1971. Three compressor stations have been built in
Qazimahammad, Agdash and Gazakh.
The gas transportation system is 55 atmospheres. Pipe diameter is 1,200 mm.
/Trend Capital/