Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Iran continue gas swap supplies

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Iranian Oil Minister Javad Ovji has said that at present, 4 - 4.5 million cubic meters of gas per day are imported from Turkmenistan to Iran under the swap supply agreement signed by Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkmenistan, Day.az has reported.

The minister noted that gas imports ensure the stability of the gas market in the country.

To recall, after a meeting with the Turkmen delegation led by Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov in October 2021, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Ovji announced Tehran's intention to pay the gas debt to Turkmenistan. It should be noted here that due to Iran's debt Turkmengaz has stopped gas deliveries to Iran since January 2017.

After the talks, during Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev's visit to Iran, an agreement was reached on the swap of gas supplies to Azerbaijan via Iran from Turkmenistan.

On November 28, 2021, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkmenistan signed a trilateral agreement on swapping gas supplies in Ashgabat. The signing ceremony took place in the presence of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi.

The agreement envisages deliveries of 1.5 to 2 billion cubic meters of gas each year, with Turkmenistan supplying gas to Iran and Iran delivering an equal quantity of gas to Azerbaijan. Thus, under the trilateral deal, Turkmenistan will sell 5-6 million cubic meters of gas per day to Azerbaijan. These volumes are expected to increase in the future.

Turkmenistan is the world's fifth-largest gas reserves according to OPEC and fourth-largest according to BP. Iran is firmly in second place in both rankings. Azerbaijan ranks 21st and 13th on these lists, respectively.