TEHRAN: Deputy oil minister has outlined Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) production as a possible scenario for exports of natural Iranian gas to Europe. Ali Kardor, while describing major plans for gas production and exports, said production and shipment of LNG remains as one scenario for exports of Iranian gas to European states. “In line with the major policy, in addition to construction of huge multiple-million-ton LNG units, building smaller LNG production units has also been put on the agenda within mini-LNG and FLNG projects,” he underlined.
The official stressed that 10 million tons of new capacity has been defined within mini-LNG and Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) project; “these units will be able to an annual output volume of about 500 thousand to two million tons.” “On the basis of regulations, the possibility exists to assign all shares of LNG and FLNG units to qualified international companies,” said managing director of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) adding “so far a number of negotiations have been held with credible international firms as well as domestic private sector companies.”
On pricing formulas for sales of natural gas feedstock to new mini-LNG and FLNG units owned by domestic and foreign investors, Kardor said “a 10-year pricing formula has been defined in accordance with crude sale benchmarks in East Asia.”In response to a question on talks held with a number of Norwegian companies, the official confirmed the holding of negotiations with Norway over implementation of FLNG units in the Persian Gulf region. At the end of his remarks, the official recalled that Iran’s FLNG units possess an annual production capacity of 500 thousand tons of mini-LNG in the Persian Gulf reiterating “talks have reached final stages with a Norwegian firms and the ownership of an FLNG ship in being transferred to Iran with Norway’s investment.”
