Iran eyes European gas markets

UPI: Iran is looking to transport its natural gas to markets in Greece and Italy through Iraq and Syria, the Iranian oil minister said in Damascus.

United Press International

DAMASCUS, Syria, April 1 (UPI) — Iran is looking to transport its natural gas to markets in Greece and Italy through Iraq and Syria, the Iranian oil minister said in Damascus.

Iranian Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari said during a meeting in Damascus with his Syrian counterpart that Iran was eager to expand its export regime, Iran's Press TV reports.

"Iran will transfer gas to Greece and Italy through Iraq, Syria and the Mediterranean Sea," the minister said.

Nozari went on to add that his country is eager to move into the European market despite opposition from the United States.

Iranian gas was seen as a potential supplier to the planned Nabucco gas pipeline to Europe, though U.S. officials recently dismissed the possibility.

For his part, Sufian Allaw, the energy minister in Damascus, reached preliminary arrangements for the transport of Iranian gas to Syria during the meeting, the official Syrian Arab News Agency reports.

Iran holds about 948 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, the second-largest reserve volume in the world. Nozari suggested the shipments would travel though the planned Persian Pipeline, a 2,100-mile route to Turkey and European markets.