Iran to construct separate gas pipeline to Turkey
Posted by meb at January 15th, 2008
In search of a final solution to recurrent gas problems with Turkey, Iran has decided to construct a new pipeline to carry its natural gas to the Turkish market so that the gas flow will not be affected from sudden changes in Iran’s domestic market.
Ahmad Noorani, the undersecretary for economic and commercial affairs at the Iranian Embassy in Ankara, has said they have enough reserves to double the gas provided to Turkey. However, he said that as the current pipeline between Turkey and Iran was connected to Iran’s domestic natural gas network, gas flow may drop depending on weather conditions and natural gas consumption. “A new pipeline [dedicated] to shipments to Turkey will be installed,” he said yesterday. Noorani said the project was in the development stage but that completion of the pipeline may take time. “We have legal obligations stemming from the bilateral agreement. But compelling reasons are at issue, something very common in all international agreements,” he said.
Turkey and Iran signed a natural gas agreement in August 1996, laying down the conditions of Turkey purchasing 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year for 25 years.
As Iran fails to send its gas to Turkey, Russian state-owned gas monopoly Gazprom has compensated for the decrease in supply by increasing its daily output to Turkey. Yesterday, Gazprom announced that it increased the daily amount to 40 million cubic meters to help Turkey overcome its shortage.
PM: Will the US or Israel sell gas to Turkey if we cut the line with Iran
Meanwhile, Erdoğan yesterday defended their stance in favor of Iran as a response to accusations of being too close despite Turkey’s strategic ally US’s hostile relations with Iran. He said Turkey and Iran have to maintain good relations because they have strong, well-established relations stemming from history. The current economic realities also render such a friendship necessary, he pointed out, saying: “Will the US or Israel be able to meet my natural gas needs if we finish with Iran? No. Since they cannot provide me with natural gas, I will take care of my own affairs by myself. They have to empathize with us on this issue because we have to buy this gas from Iran and Russia in order to not face serious problems. We have put these remarks before our American friends on several occasions, and they have understood our concerns.”
Turkmenistan prolongs gas cuts to Iran
Turkmenistan has continued a stoppage of natural gas exports to Iran because of technical problems, blaming the cut on slow repairs of an export pipeline. The Turkmen Foreign Ministry said in a statement Sunday that natural gas shipments to Iran via a 200-kilometer pipeline have been suspended since Jan. 1. The ministry said the cut was necessary to make repairs to the pipeline, adding that Iran’s failure to pay for previous gas supplies had stalled the effort. Iran gets 5 percent of its needs from Turkmenistan, and the supply disruption caused shortages in some areas as well as a cut in Iran’s gas exports to Turkey.
source: Today’s Zaman
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