Finalizing gas export deal to Oman underway

Preliminary studies are underway to finalize a gas contract with Oman, managing director of National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) Hamid Reza Araqi said. In statements to Shana, Iraqi said NIGC was studying different aspects of the issue including economic assessment of the contract and a report on the possible routes. He stated implementation of gas contracts requires preliminary expertise studies which takes time. After several years, reaching agreement on gas price is a breakthrough, NIGC managing director said adding the two countries have many common grounds for boosting cooperation including feeding Oman’s LNG units with gas.   Iran’s minister of petroleum Bijan Namdar Zanganeh and his Omani counterpart signed a MoU last month to accelerate finalizing a gas contract between the two sides. Islamic Republic of Iran as the largest owner of gas reserves in the world is the most secure and most economic source of gas exports to the neighboring country. On a gas export project to Iraq, Iraqi said: to become operational, the project needs laying down 227 km of gas pipeline of which building a 97 km pipeline is underway. "Under the terms of the contract, Iran will export 25 million cubic meters a day of gas to Iraq in the first phase which will yield 350 million dollars each month." He said gas export pipeline to Iraq will also diversify Iran’s gas transit routes to Europe. "Iran-Iraq gas contract provides the opportunity to export gas to Europe not only through Turkey territory but via a second route which is Iraq and Syria," he said. Upon completion, the first phase of Iran-Iraq gas pipeline will meet 30 to 35 percent of Iraq’s gas needs and 65 to 70 percent of its electricity, NIGC’s top executive noted. By implementation of the second phase, Iran’s gas exports to Iraq will hit 75 to 80 mcm/d, implying Iran’s gas exports will hit 2.5 to 3 times more than its imports of the product, NIGC official said.