13 October 2016•Update: 13 October 2016
By Murat Temizer
ISTANBUL
Iran is ready to increase natural gas exports to Turkey, the volumes of which will be determined by Turkey, spokesman of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) Majid Boujarzadeh said during the World Energy Congress (WEC) in Istanbul.
Boujarzadeh told Anadolu Agency at the WEC that Iran hopes to build on the good relations between Turkey and Iran in the post-sanctions era.
"We have a lot of gas reserves in Iran. Currently, we send 30 million cubic meters of gas daily to Turkey," he said, adding that Iran can make more volumes available should Turkey request them.
Boujarzadeh said that NIGC's engineering department is undertaking studies on the infrastructure to enable increased export volumes.
He added that a post-sanctions Iran has plans to build a LNG factory in Iran, and called on Turkey to participate in investing in the project.
"We are ready to send LNG if Turkey is ready to receive it from Iran in the future. If Turkey is able to invest in this LNG plant, we are ready to offer many opportunities to Turkey," he stressed.
Boujarzadeh advised that Turkey, with its central location to transfer gas to Europe, and receive gas from Russia and transfer it to Greece and Europe, could avail of the opportunity to generate more income while enhancing its status as a gas supplier to Europe. This aim could further be strengthened with the existing pipeline between Turkey and Iran.
"We are considering sending gas to Europe through Turkey. We have excess capacity now to send gas to Turkey and Europe from Greece," he added.
Russia supplies around 55 percent of Turkey’s domestic gas consumption. Iran supplies approximately 16 percent and Azerbaijan supplies around 13 percent. These three countries are the major suppliers of Turkey’s natural gas imports, with the remainder is supplied through LNG imports from Algeria, Nigeria and Qatar.
The Anadolu Agency is the global communication partner for the WEC in Istanbul, which is running between Oct. 9 and 13, 2016.
