Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 27 / Trend E. Ismailov /
Specialists of the National Iranian Gas Export Company (NIGEC) are on a visit to Azerbaijan to hold talks on signing a long term contract on Azerbaijani gas supplies to Iran, SOCAR head Rovnag Abdullayev said today.
"Iranian experts are in Azerbaijan and the sides are working on this project," Abdullayev announced.
According to him, the construction of a new gas compressor station in Astara, which is one of the key elements of the gas transportation infrastructure connecting Azerbaijan and Iran, is nearing the completion stage.
Abdullayev plans to leave for Astara on Dec.30 to oversee the course of work. He does not exclude the possibility of commissioning a new facility.
To date SOCAR exports 1.1-1.2 million cubic meters of gas to Iran daily, as part of exchange operations to meet the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic's needs.
At present, the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) is expanding the capacity of the gas compressor station in Astara to increase gas supplies to Iran. Plans are also afoot for the construction of a gas pipeline from Azerbaijan to Iran. The signing of a contract for long-term supplies is likely to follow the completion of these works. This, in turn, could see an increase in production to the amount of 3-3.5 million cubic meters per day from the current 1.2 million cubic meters.
The 1,474.5-kilometer Gazi-Magomed-Astara-Bind-Biand gas pipeline connects Azerbaijan and Iran, including the territory of Azerbaijan, 296.5 kilometers. This route is a branch of the Gazakh-Astara-Iran pipeline, which was put into operation in 1971. Three compressor stations were built in Gazi-Magomed, Agdash and Gazakh.. The pipe's diameter is 1,200 millimeters.
Earlier, Iran and Azerbaijan signed two memorandums on expanding cooperation on the supply of gas and electricity. The memorandums were signed during the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's official visit to Baku.
