Iran Begins Building Gas Pipeline to Armenia

RigZone
July 23 2004

Iran Begins Building Gas Pipeline to Armenia

Iran has begun building a 140 km long gas pipeline to Armenia, said
the Itar-Tass news agency monitored here Thursday.

The two countries signed an agreement on the project worth around
120m

US dollars in May, when Iranian Oil Minister Bizhan Namdar- Zanganeh
visited Yerevan.

Under its provisions, Iran will be supplying 36bn cubic meters of
natural gas to Armenia annually from 2007 through to 2027.

Itar-Tass, citing OPEC sources in Vienna, said that the pipeline
might be used to ship Iranian gas to Georgia, Ukraine and farther on
to Europe in the future.

The news agency said the sources had got the news from Armenian
ambassador to Tehran, Gegam Garibdzhanyan

To make the whole scheme possible, a 550-kilometre-long section of
the pipeline will be laid at the floor of the Black Sea, stretching
from the Georgian port of Supsa to Feodosiya in the Crimean, it said.

According to the same sources, the project is estimated to cost about
five billion US dollars.

Forecasts suggest that once the project is implemented, the Iranian
gas supplies to Europe may reach 60bn cubic meters a year, of which
Ukrainian imports will likely account for 10bn cubic meters.

Tehran has already a multi-billion-dollar contract with neighbouring
Turkey to supply gas for 25 years.

The gas flow was launched in December 2001 via a 2,577 km pipeline,
running from the northeastern city of Tabriz to Ankara, which
supplies gas from southern Iran near the Persian Gulf.

The contract has been a boon to Iran’s bid to become a sustainable
gas supplier to Turkey and Europe.

Looking for alternative markets, Tehran has also held talks with the
Persian Gulf littoral states and the Central Asian nations for the
sale of gas.

The country sits on the second largest proven gas reserves of the
world after Russia, which has been a headache for Iran by getting
into, what is feared to be, an unnecessary and costly competition.
Iran has begun building a 140 km long gas pipeline to Armenia, said
the Itar-Tass news agency monitored here Thursday.

The two countries signed an agreement on the project worth around
120m

US dollars in May, when Iranian Oil Minister Bizhan Namdar- Zanganeh
visited Yerevan.

Under its provisions, Iran will be supplying 36bn cubic meters of
natural gas to Armenia annually from 2007 through to 2027.

Itar-Tass, citing OPEC sources in Vienna, said that the pipeline
might be used to ship Iranian gas to Georgia, Ukraine and farther on
to Europe in the future.

The news agency said the sources had got the news from Armenian
ambassador to Tehran, Gegam Garibdzhanyan

To make the whole scheme possible, a 550-kilometre-long section of
the pipeline will be laid at the floor of the Black Sea, stretching
from the Georgian port of Supsa to Feodosiya in the Crimean, it said.

According to the same sources, the project is estimated to cost about
five billion US dollars.

Forecasts suggest that once the project is implemented, the Iranian
gas supplies to Europe may reach 60bn cubic meters a year, of which
Ukrainian imports will likely account for 10bn cubic meters.

Tehran has already a multi-billion-dollar contract with neighbouring
Turkey to supply gas for 25 years.

The gas flow was launched in December 2001 via a 2,577 km pipeline,
running from the northeastern city of Tabriz to Ankara, which
supplies gas from southern Iran near the Persian Gulf.

The contract has been a boon to Iran’s bid to become a sustainable
gas supplier to Turkey and Europe.

Looking for alternative markets, Tehran has also held talks with the
Persian Gulf littoral states and the Central Asian nations for the
sale of gas.

The country sits on the second largest proven gas reserves of the
world after Russia, which has been a headache for Iran by getting
into, what is feared to be, an unnecessary and costly competition.
Iran has begun building a 140 km long gas pipeline to Armenia, said
the Itar-Tass news agency monitored here Thursday.

The two countries signed an agreement on the project worth around
120m

US dollars in May, when Iranian Oil Minister Bizhan Namdar- Zanganeh
visited Yerevan.

Under its provisions, Iran will be supplying 36bn cubic meters of
natural gas to Armenia annually from 2007 through to 2027.

Itar-Tass, citing OPEC sources in Vienna, said that the pipeline
might be used to ship Iranian gas to Georgia, Ukraine and farther on
to Europe in the future.

The news agency said the sources had got the news from Armenian
ambassador to Tehran, Gegam Garibdzhanyan

To make the whole scheme possible, a 550-kilometre-long section of
the pipeline will be laid at the floor of the Black Sea, stretching
from the Georgian port of Supsa to Feodosiya in the Crimean, it said.

According to the same sources, the project is estimated to cost about
five billion US dollars.

Forecasts suggest that once the project is implemented, the Iranian
gas supplies to Europe may reach 60bn cubic meters a year, of which
Ukrainian imports will likely account for 10bn cubic meters.

Tehran has already a multi-billion-dollar contract with neighbouring
Turkey to supply gas for 25 years.

The gas flow was launched in December 2001 via a 2,577 km pipeline,
running from the northeastern city of Tabriz to Ankara, which
supplies gas from southern Iran near the Persian Gulf.

The contract has been a boon to Iran’s bid to become a sustainable
gas supplier to Turkey and Europe.

Looking for alternative markets, Tehran has also held talks with the
Persian Gulf littoral states and the Central Asian nations for the
sale of gas.

The country sits on the second largest proven gas reserves of the
world after Russia, which has been a headache for Iran by getting
into, what is feared to be, an unnecessary and costly competition.