The National Iranian Gas Company’s (NIGC) Spokesperson, Majid Boujarzadeh, said that Iran has offered Turkey to invest in its liquified national gas (LNG) projects in order to boost exports of Iranian gas to Turkey, reported Azer News. Currently, Iran supplies Turkey with 30mcm/d of gas. Furthermore, NIGC’s Managing Director, Hamidreza Araqi, confirmed in August that Iran could increase gas exports to Turkey by 6mcm/d using existing infrastructure, according to Press Tv.
Boujarzadeh added that Iran has plans to build a new LNG factory, and called on Turkey to participate in investing in the project.
Iran had invested $2.5b in the construction of a 10.4mt capacity LNG plant, with 50% of the project completed. Yet, sanction imposed on Iran had delayed the project. In the country’s last estimate, Iran needed an additional $5b to finish the facility.
Boujarzadeh also hinted at the possibility of Iran pumping gas to Europe via Turkey. Iran’s gas is supplied to Turkey through the Tabriz-Ankara pipeline, which has a capacity of 14bcm per year. In 2015, Iran reduced gas supplies to Turkey by 12.3% to reach 7.83bcm. However, in the first five months of 2016, Iran exported 3.35bcm of gas to Turkey, a 7% boost when compared to the same period in 2015. The growth in exports was possible due to the increased natural gas production at the South Pars field.
