Azerbaijan, Iran sign gas contract

SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) and the National Iranian Gas Export Company signed an agreement on supply of Azerbaijani gas to the northern provinces of Iran during the winter and an agreement on confidentiality, to hold negotiations on five-year contract (with possibility of extension) for the supply of Azerbaijani gas, said the statement by the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan.

It is planned that from the beginning of the year, Azerbaijani gas will be delivered to Iran in certain volumes, in accordance with the capacity of existing infrastructure between countries.

Currently, the infrastructure allows to deliver about 500 million cubic meters of gas per year.

In the future, the sides intend to expand capacity by increasing the capacity of gas compressor stations.

The gas price is not reported.

The Iranian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mohammad Bagir Bahrami said earlier that Iran intends to purchase about 5 billion cubic meters of gas from Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan has four directions of gas export, including Turkey, Georgia, Russia and Iran.

At present, gas is exported to Turkey and Georgia. Azerbaijani gas will be exported to Russia from early 2010. At present, Azerbaijan exports gas upon swap conditions with further transfer of Iranian gas to provide the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.

Azerbaijan and Iran are connected with the Qazimahammad-Astara pipeline gas pipeline.

Its length is 1474.5 kilometers, including the territory of Azerbaijan - 296.5 kilometers.

Its capacity is 10 billion cubic meters per year.

This route is a branch of the pipeline Gazakh-Astara-Iran, put into operation in 1971. Three compressor stations have been built in Qazimahammad, Agdash and Gazakh.

The gas transportation system is 55 atmospheres. Pipe diameter is 1,200 mm.

/Trend Capital/