Armenia ready to double gas imports from Iran, minister says

Armenia supports Tehran's proposal to increase natural gas exports from Iran, Armenian Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Davit Khudatyan said following his visit to Iran last week.

Elaborating on the proposal, Khudatyan said both countries have the infrastructure needed to significantly expand their existing gas-for-electricity swap, Caliber.Az reports via Armenian media.

“Both sides acknowledged that the Republic of Armenia effectively needs to receive larger volumes of gas, while the Islamic Republic of Iran needs to receive larger volumes of electricity. 

The capacity of our existing gas pipeline exceeds the volume of gas currently being transported through it. Both the capabilities of our existing gas pipeline and the construction of the 400 kV power transmission line will allow us to increase the volume of the deal by more than twofold, but at a minimum, doubling it is entirely possible,” the minister said.

Khudatyan added that Armenia is capable of exporting at least twice as much electricity to Iran and, in return, receiving twice as much natural gas, noting that the pipeline's capacity is sufficient to handle volumes exceeding that level.

By Jeyhun Aghazada