Iran said Monday it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to transfer its gas to Syria through Iraq, the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted and official as saying.
“By inking this MOU, it is predicted that in less than a month three legal, financial and technical joint workshops will be formed for inking the final gas contract,” Javad Oji, head of the National Iranian Gas Co. (NIGC) was quoted as saying by the semi-official Mehr news agency.
Iran said the pipeline, with an estimated construction cost of $10 billion, would be inaugurated within the next three to five years.
The country is currently producing 600 million cubic meters of gas per day, of which 37 million cubic meters is exported.
Iran says by the completion of the 24 projected phases of the South Pars gas field, production would reach 1.2 billion cubic meters of which 250 million cubic meters will be exported.
Iranhas long-term ambitions to expand its gas exports, particularly toEurope.
However, while Iran holds the world’s second-largest gas reserves, it currently has no major net exports, partly due to international sanctions.
