$2.3b Gas Pipeline Plan Signed
Iranian companies signed a $2.3 billion agreement to build 1,300 kilometers of pipeline which the country sees as its most important conduit for future gas exports to Europe.
The Iran Gas Trunkline-6 (IGAT-6), with the throughput from the massive South Pars field, will boost Iran’s exports through the neighboring Iraq.
Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company (IGEDC) and Pasargad Energy Development Company signed on July 13 a BOT (build-operate-transfer) contract under which the project owner will provide 25% of finance and National Development Fund of Iran the rest.
The repayment will come from gas exports to Iraq, the Iraqi Kurdistan region and Turkey.
The contract includes building 590 kilometers of pipeline up to the border with Iraq in addition to five gas compressor stations in two years.
The construction of the pipeline for a length of 611 kilometers between Assaluyeh and Ahvaz has already completed.
IGEDC Chief Executive Alireza Gharibi said Iran’s gas exports to Iraq are planned to go through two lines to Baghdad and Basra near the border.
For Baghdad, a 42-inch pipeline stretches from Assaluyeh to Naftshahr on the border with Iraq.
In Iraq, the 120-km pipeline passes through the volatile Diyala province to feed a power station there before branching into two lines to supply two more plants in Baghdad.
Plans for exports were pushed back again last month over concerns about the security of the pipeline.
Iran is expected to initially deliver 4 million cubic meters of gas per day (mcm/d) before raising it to 35 mcm/d later to feed three electricity generation plants in Iraq.
Gharibi said final tests of the pipeline are underway and the gas flow is expected to begin in the next month.
The agreement for exports of the Iranian gas to Basra is also expected to be finalized in the “new future”, he added.
Italy’s SACE Waiting for Iran Nuclear Deal
Italy’s SACE is among leading Western companies that were operating oil projects in Iran before sanctions were imposed on the country. Giammarco Boccia, head of the Milan Branch of SACE, believes that a removal of sanctions against Iran would be a win-win deal.
Boccia recently talked to Iran Petroleum on the sidelines of an exhibition in Italy.
Q: Would you please tell us about SACE’s involvement in Iran’s oil projects before the sanctions were imposed?
A: I have to highlight the point that SACE had invested around $1 billion in Iran’s petroleum industry projects before the sanctions were enforced. But currently, we cannot invest in any project due to sanctions conditions in Iran and for the moment economic transactions between the two sides have been cut.
Q: What do you think of the perspectives of investment in Iran?
A: I do believe that Iran is one of the best and the most secure countries for investment and economic cooperation and in addition to this cooperation; some sort of cultural relationship has been under way between Iran and Italy. Iran is one of the largest economic markets in the world and the government of this country is one of the best to do economic deals with.
Q: What do you think of the removal of sanctions imposed on Iran?
A: Before the sanctions, SACE had good experience in Iran. We are a company helping private companies for economic transactions with other countries. In this regard, Iran has been one of our best and faithful clients. Therefore, the removal of sanctions imposed on Iran is desired by most private companies including SACE.
Q: What plans does SACE have for post-sanctions Iran?
A: Given the safety of investment in Iran, SACE is ready to make necessary plans for investment in Iran’s market soon after the sanctions are lifted. In my view, a removal of sanctions would be a win-win agreement.