Iran to start gas exports to Syria by end of 2011, Shana reports

Bloomberg: Iran plans export as much as 5 million cubic meters of natural gas daily to Syria by the end of this year after construction of a pipeline via south Turkey is completed, the Iranian Oil Ministry’s news website said.

Bloomberg

By Ladane Nasseri

Iran plans export as much as 5 million cubic meters of natural gas daily to Syria by the end of this year after construction of a pipeline via south Turkey is completed, the Iranian Oil Ministry’s news website said.

The route will be used to meet Syria’s “urgent needs” for gas until the start of a pipeline through Iraq that will supply 40 million cubic meters of gas a day, Shana reported, citing Iran’s Oil Minister Masoud Mir-Kazemi.

Iranian officials will meet with their Iraqi and Syrian counterparts this month or the next to finalize a contract on the export and transit of gas, according to the report.

Iran and Syria signed a preliminary agreement on Jan. 19 for the construction of a 2,000-kilometer (1,250-mile) network to carry Iranian gas via a 56-inch (142-centimeter) pipeline with a daily capacity of as much as 110 cubic meters.