TEHRAN: Iran says it is ready to increase its exports of natural gas to Turkey should Ankara demands Tehran to do so. Majid Boujarzadeh, the spokesman of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), told Turkish media that technical studies are already underway to increase gas exports to Turkey. “We have a lot of gas reserves in Iran. Currently, we send 30 million cubic meters of gas daily to Turkey,” said Boujarzadeh.
NIGC Managing Director Hamidreza Araqi had earlier in August announced that Iran’s exports of gas to Turkey could increase by 6 million cubic meters per day. Araqi emphasized that the increase in exports of gas to Turkey can be implemented through the existing infrastructure.
Boujarzadeh official further added that Iran has plans to build a LNG factory in Iran, and called on Turkey to participate in investing in the project. “We are ready to send LNG if Turkey is ready to receive it from Iran in the future. If Turkey is able to invest in this LNG plant, we are ready to offer many opportunities to Turkey,” he told Anadolu news agency in an interview on the sidelines of World Energy Congress (WEC) in Istanbul.
Boujarzadeh said Turkey could avail of the opportunity to generate more income should Iran start to pipe gas to Europe through the Turkish territory in the future.
This aim could further be strengthened with the existing pipeline between Turkey and Iran, he added. “We are considering sending gas to Europe through Turkey. We have excess capacity now to send gas to Turkey and Europe from Greece,” Boujarzadeh further told Anadolu. Iran is Turkey’s second supplier of gas after Russia, providing one-fifth of the country’s consumption. Russia sells 28-30 billion cubic meters of gas to Turkey each year.
