Page 11 - FSUOGM Week 48 2021

FSUOGM PIPELINES & TRANSPORT FSUOGM

Leaders of ECO
member nations at the
summit.

Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan

sign gas swap deal

CASPIAN IRAN, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan have of natural gas after Russia, but most of its major
signed a trilateral gas swap deal that covers a vol- gas fields are located in its south, thus Iran has
ume of up to 2bn cubic metres (bcm) per year, brought in gas from neighbouring Turkmeni-
Iran’s IRIB TV and Radio Broadcasting Corpo- stan in the north since 1997 for distribution in
ration reported on November 28. its northern provinces. It is especially required
Signed in the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat, on during the winter.
the sidelines of a regional economic summit, The new deal was signed on the sidelines of
the swap deal boosts an existing agreement. a summit of the Economic Cooperation Organ-
Under the agreement, Iran will receive gas from ization (ECO). It members are all five Central
Turkmenistan and deliver the same amount to Asian countries—Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan,
Azerbaijan, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji told Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan—as well
Iranian state media. as Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Pakistan and
"Turkmenistan will sell 5-6 million cubic Turkey.
meters of gas per day to Azerbaijan under the “The signed document is very important.
trilateral agreement," Iranian state TV quoted This is a historical document, it shows how
Owji as saying. deep the Azerbaijani-Iranian ties are. Azerbai-
Owji was further cited as saying that Iran jan will receive Turkmen gas through Iran. This
was moving to resolve a gas debt dispute with is good grounds for trilateral cooperation. The
Turkmenistan that began as far back as 2016. signed document is important from the point
In that year, Turkmenistan claimed that Iran of view of economic and energy security,”
owed at least $1.5bn for gas it had received from Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said at the
Turkmenistan. Iran disputed the figure and the summit.
matter moved to international arbitration, but it Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi stressed that
remains unresolved. the signed deal was aimed at developing relations
"We will soon pay the first installment to clear between the countries involved. “In this direc-
the gas debt that we owe to the Turkmen side, tion, there is a need for numerous steps and this
after talks that were held earlier," Owji said, while document is aimed at expanding cooperation
not specifying a debt figure. between the countries, including in the spheres
Iran has the world's second largest reserves of economy, trade, transit and culture,” he said. ™

Week 48 01•December•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P11