Iran “Most Secure, Most Economical” Gas Transit Route Official
Text of report in English by Iranian official government news agency IRNA website
Ashkhabad, 6 June: The deputy oil minister and managing-director of National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) said here Friday [6 June] Iran is the most secure, most economical natural gas transit route for Central Asian republics.
According to IRNA Economic News Desk reporter from Ashkhabad, Seyyed Reza Kasa’izadeh who was speaking at a two-day international conference on oil and gas in Turkmenistan’s capital city, added, “The Islamic Republic of Iran is meanwhile a beneficial market for trading the Central Asian republics’ oil and gas by-products.” He emphasized, “The geographical position of the Islamic Republic of Iran as a golden gate between the Central Asian republics, as well as the Caspian Sea littoral countries, and the Persian Gulf is obvious for every energy market observer.”
The Iranian state gas industry manager emphasized, “That is the reason why Tehran is hereby announcing its full scale readiness for transiting, exchanging, and buying Turkmenistan’s oil, gas, and oil and gas products.”
Kasa’izadeh said, “The Korbache-Kordcouy gas line was put to use in 1996 relying on cooperation between the two friendly and brother countries of Iran and Turkmenistan and was the first direct and independent gas line through which Turkmenistan has been exporting its natural gas to foreign markets for the first time ever since then.” The NIGC managing director said that the current capacity of that pipeline is eight billion cubic meters annually, reiterating, “Thanks to the initial design of that pipeline by Iranian oil and gas engineers, it is capable of transferring as much as 14 billion cubic meters if the production and demand would necessitate such an increase.”
Kasa’izadeh said, “A new 42 inch oil pipeline called the IOP can transfer one million barrels of oil through its 1,525 kilometres path from Iran’s Neka Port City in the north to our country’s Jask Port by Hormoz Straight, that is an appropriate path for further delivery to world oil markers, whose construction cost is estimated to be between 1.5 to two million US dollars.”
He added, “The Islamic Republic of Iran in its Twenty-Year Perspective has estimate the need for 129 billion dollar investment in our gas industries, in order to transfer natural gas to 95 per cent of our cities, 40 per cent of our villages, 100 per cent of our industries and power stations, and converting the vehicles into gas consumption engines.
Originally published by Islamic Republic News Agency website, Tehran, in English 1619 6 Jun 08.
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