YEREVAN: The Armenian government decided on Thursday to set up a company to deal with the expansion of natural gas imports from Iran. According to the energy and natural resources minister Levon Yolyan, the new company is called Energaimpeks. According to a draft government decision, the new company’s share capital is worth 100,000 drams (about $210 US dollars) – 100 common shares, each with a face value of 1000 drams. In particular, Iran plans to increase natural gas exports to Armenia from 1 million cubic meters per day to 3 million cubic meters in the next few years.
Earlier, Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zanganeh said that Iran has increased the exports of natural gas to Armenia to 3.5 million cubic meters/day after deliveries of Russian gas through Georgia were suspended for the repairs of the main pipeline.
Deliveries of Russian natural gas to Armenia through the territory of Georgia were halted from July 10 to August 10. The halt will be used by Georgia’s Gas Transportation Company to repair the sections of the pipeline damaged by natural calamities and connect a newly-built section to it built in the landslide area.
Iran and Georgia had inked a four-month contract for exporting a total of 40 million cubic meters of Iranian gas following a meeting held in late July between Iranian and Armenian officials over gas transit through Armenia. On the basis of the pilot contract, an overall amount of 40 million cubic meters of Iranian gas will be shipped to Georgia through the Armenia. According to the head of the National Iranian Gas Exports Company (NIGEC), Alireza Kameli, the agreement was sealed with the Georgian International Energy Corporation (GIEC) and “40 million cubic meters of natural gas will be transferred over a period of four months.”
According to the Armenian customs data, in 2015 Armenia imported a total of 2.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas worth $514.3 million, up from about 2.5 billion cubic meters imported in 2014. Imports of Iranian gas in 2015 amounted to 383.1 million cubic meters worth $72.4 million, up from 365.9 million cubic meters imported in 2014. Russia accounts for 82% of Armenian natural gas imports (about 2.2 billion cubic meters a year) worth $426.3 million.
