Turkmenistan and Iran have signed a contract for the purchase and sale of natural gas in the amount of up to 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year, which will be supplied from Turkmenistan to Iraq through Iran under the “SWAP” scheme. This was announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan on Wednesday, 3 July 2024.
In addition to the swap deal, Turkmenistan plans to further increase its gas exports directly to Iran. To facilitate this, the countries will expand their gas transportation infrastructure. Iranian companies will construct a new 125-kilometer pipeline and three gas compressor stations within Turkmenistan.
Here is the full text of the press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan:
Turkmenistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran, based on the principles of friendship, good neighborliness, mutual respect and equal partnership, have been developing mutually beneficial relations in the gas industry for many years.
The positive experience of joint activities in the field of Turkmen gas supplies to Iran and through its territory to third countries serves as a solid basis for building the potential of bilateral partnership in this area.
In this context, it should be noted that currently the Turkmen and Iranian sides are actively working together to implement agreements reached earlier at the highest state level on the development of gas cooperation.
Thus, in order to expand the gas transportation infrastructure, Iranian companies will carry out work on the construction of a new 125-kilometer gas pipeline and three gas compressor stations on the territory of Turkmenistan, which are necessary for the supply of additional volumes of gas to Iran.
At the same time, it should be emphasized that in addition to the existing capacities, it is planned to increase the volume of gas supplies to Iran via the Dovletabad – Serakhs – Khangeran routes and through the Chaloyuk gas measuring station up to 40 billion cubic meters per year.
In order to further use the great opportunities for effective cooperation in gas supplies, negotiations between the Turkmen and Iranian sides took place in Ashgabat on July 1-3, 2024, during which a wide range of issues related to the further development of cooperation between Turkmenistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran in the gas industry were discussed.
Following the meetings, the Turkmen and Iranian sides signed a contract for the purchase and sale of natural gas in the amount of up to 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year, which will be supplied from Turkmenistan to Iraq through the territory of Iran under the “SWAP” scheme.