Armenia to buy more Iranian gas
Armenia reached an agreement with neighboring Iran on importing larger amounts of Iranian natural gas, the outgoing Energy Minister Garegin Baghramyan said on Thursday.
He also said that Armenian and Georgian officials are negotiating on possible Iranian gas supplies to Georgia that would be carried out via Armenia, reported azatutyun.am.
The gas issue featured large during Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s official visit to Tehran last week.
Speaking after talks with Pashinyan, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said his hydrocarbon-rich country is ready to sell more gas to Armenia and use Armenian territory for gas exports to Georgia.
Armenia currently receives about 500 million cubic meters of Iranian gas each year under a swap scheme that also involves exports of Armenian electricity to the Islamic Republic.
Its overall gas imports total roughly two billion cubic meters per annum and they mostly come from Russia.
Baghramyan said Rouhani and Pashinyan instructed relevant Iranian and Armenian bodies to look into ways of implementing their political understandings on the gas issue, while a commercial deal could take different forms.
“There could be an increase in the volume of Iranian gas for the purpose of transit to Georgia,” explained the minister.
“If there is a mutually beneficial price offer, there could be an increase in the volume of gas in the form of direct sales to Armenia,” he said.
“Not only are we negotiating [with Georgia], but Iranian companies have reached a certain understanding with Georgian companies,” said Baghramyan, adding that Armenia is ready to serve as a transit route for Iranian gas supplies to Georgia.
Baghramyan further stated that Russia’s giant Gazprom cannot block or impede greater Iranian gas supplies to Armenia.