Iran and Armenia have signed off on an extension to a deal that allows natural gas exports from Iran to Armenia in return for electricity imports from the Caucasus country.

A Tuesday statement from the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) said the extended gas-for-electricity swap deal between Iran and Armenia will run until early 2031.

It said the deal will allow the NIGC to double its supply of natural gas to Armenia in return for increased imports of electricity.

It said NIGC chief Majid Chegeni had signed the deal during a recent trip to Armenia without elaborating on the exact date. 

Chegeni and Armenia’s Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Gnel Sanosyan had signed an initial agreement to renew the gas-for-electricity deal between the two countries in November when Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was in Tehran for an official visit.

Local news agencies said at the time that Iran and Armenia would commit to swapping gas for electricity under the new deal until the end of the Iranian calendar year 1409 (March 2031).

Those reports said that the deal will also modify electricity swap figures in line with the increase in Iran’s size of gas exports to Armenia.

Experts say the new deal with Armenia would boost Iran’s gas export capacities while improving the country’s ability to respond to peak demand for electricity in its populous northwestern regions.

However, the size of Iranian gas supplies to Armenia will still remain small compared to exports to countries like Turkey and Iraq as the two countries combined receive some 70 million cubic meters per day of gas from Iran.