December 13-2013
Iran has signed a new contract to buy more natural gas from Turkmenistan this winter.
The new contract indicates the government is having increased problems supplying gas from domestic resources. What isn’t clear is whether there is any link to the international sanctions that have prevented foreign investment in Iranian gas production projects.
Deputy Oil Minister Hamid-Reza Araqi told the Mehr news agency that under the new contract the additional gas would be provided at the same price. He did not say how much additional gas Iran would buy.
Iran exports large quantities of gas to Turkey and small quantities to Armenia and the Azer-baijani enclave of Nakhichevan. It imports large quantities from Turkmenistan and small amounts from Azerbaijan. Since beginning exports in 2000, Iran’s imports have exceeded its exports in every year except 2010 and 2012, according to the Tasnim news agency.
Iran imports the gas from Turkmenistan to supply the northeast and save it the expense of having to pipe gas all the way from southwestern Iran to northeastern Iran.
But Turkmenistan has turned off the supply twice in the middle of winter. As a result, Iran said it was building new pipelines and gas compression units to be able to supply the northeast. That infrastructure is supposed to be finished in time for the winter of 2014-15.