Eurasia Press & News
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran increased its gas exports to Turkey after the Russia-Georgia conflict disrupted supplies from Azerbaijan.
British Petroleum announced on Tuesday that it had closed a natural gas pipeline running from the Azerbaijani field of Shakh-Deniz to Georgia and Turkey over concerns of a military conflict between Moscow and Tbilisi.
Reuters quoted a senior source from the Turkish pipeline company, Botas, as saying on Tuesday that the company would increase gas imports from Iran in order to compensate for a reduction in Azerbaijani supplies.
Iran previously exported 12 million cubic meters to Turkey per day but has increased its daily export to 19 million cubic meters since Wednesday, IRNA reported an official in Botas as saying.
Iran possesses the world’s second-largest gas reserves after Russia. Turkey has been a consumer of Iranian gas since 2001.
Head of economic affairs at the Iranian embassy in Turkey, Ahmad Noorani, said last week that Tehran and Ankara had agreed on the details of a deal to export Iran’s natural gas to Turkey.
He added that the deal is expected to be finalized during Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Turkey.
