BLAST HITS IRAN-TURKEY GAS PIPELINE, CUTS SUPPLIES
PanARMENIAN.Net
July 29, 2011
PanARMENIAN.Net – A blast early Friday, July 29 hit a pipeline
carrying natural gas from Iran to Turkey, forcing a cut in supply,
an Iranian oil official said.
“The export of gas to Turkey has been temporarily halted after an
explosion struck the pipeline” in northwestern Iran, spokesman for
National Iranian Gas Co. Majid Boujarzadeh told the oil ministry’s
news agency SHANA.
According to Boujarzadeh, the explosion occurred near the Bazargan
border crossing, in Iran’s West Azerbaijan province.
He said an investigation had been launched into the cause of the blast.
Boujarzadeh said repair work on the pipeline was underway and expressed
hope for a speedy resumption of the gas flow.
It isn’t the first time gas supplies to Turkey have been disrupted–in
August 2010, the pipeline was damaged in a blast blamed on separatist
armed Kurdish rebels.
Iran, which has the second largest proven gas reserves in the world
after Russia, exports about 30 million cubic meters of gas to Turkey
a year, according to deputy oil minister and chairman of the NIGC,
Javad Ouji, AFP reported.