July 25, 2011
Iran in '$10bn deal to export gas to Europe'
Iran has signed a preliminary $10bn (£6.25bn) deal with Syria and Iraq to export some of its natural gas, local media have reported.
The memorandum of understanding signed by oil ministers from the three countries would see a 3,100 mile pipeline built through Iraq, Syria and Lebanon to the Mediterranean.
The deal may allow exports of gas to Europe - according to the Iranian Oil Ministry's website, Shana.
It would also supply gas to Syria.
Iran has roughly 28 trillion cubic meters of natural gas - the second largest reserves in the world according to research by BP.
The pipeline would allow it to export gas from the South Pars field, which it shares with Qatar.
Qatar is currently a major gas exporter to the UK - though that comes from different fields.
International sanctions and disagreements with foreign investors mean that Iran's reserves remain relatively undeveloped.
In 2009, Iran signed a $4.7bn contract with China National Petroleum Corporation to help develop part of the South Pars reserve - replacing France's Total which it had accused of delays.
However, in June this year, the country's Mehr news agency quoted Iranian officials criticising the Chinese company for not investing fast enough.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14277126
TEHRAN: Iran, Iraq and Syria inked on Monday a Memorandum of Understanding for the construction of pipelines designed to deliver Iran's natural gas to the two Arab nations in the next three to five years and possibly to Lebanon and Europe in the future, local media reported.
"The overall cost of the project is estimated around $10 billion," deputy oil minister and chairman of the Iranian National Gas Company (NIGC), Javad Ouji, was quoted by the Mehr news agency as saying after the signing ceremony.The construction of pipelines stretching several thousand kilometers (miles) "should take three to five years once funding is secured," according to an estimate by Ouji on Sunday.
The MoU was signed in the southern Iranian port of Assalouyeh, the nation's gas hub, by Iraqi Oil Minister Abdelkarim al-Luaybi, his Syrian counterpart Sufian Allaw and Iran's oil ministry caretaker Mohammad Aliabadi, media reported.
