According to Oil Minister Javad Owji, Iran is looking to establish a gas hub in collaboration with the country’s Eurasian trading partners. The move is part of Tehran’s efforts to boost regional cooperation and increase its position in the global energy market.
Despite the prospect of US secondary sanctions, Iran remains one of the world’s greatest oil and gas producers, supplying the majority of its energy to Asian markets. The new project will be located in the Asaluyeh district of southern Bushehr province.
“With 33 trillion cubic meters of gas reserves and thanks to Turkmenistan, Russia, and Qatar’s cooperation, we are attempting to become a gas hub,” the minister told reporters, insisting that the conditions were in place to achieve that aim.
The announcement comes as Tehran has increased its energy purchases from Turkmenistan, which has the capacity to import between 40 and 50 million cubic meters of gas per day. Because Iran’s primary gas reserves are centered in the south, imports from its northern neighbor are required, particularly during the winter.
Iran has also increased energy cooperation with Russia, which, according to Owji, might aid the Islamic Republic’s aim to become an energy hub. The two countries have cooperative exploration and production investments, technology swap agreements, and a commitment to develop oil pipelines from Iran to Oman and Pakistan. Tehran and Moscow signed two significant cooperation agreements and eight memorandums of understanding last month, covering topics ranging from energy and technology to the establishment of a joint market.
Aleksandr Novak, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister, recently reported that the two countries were exploring the establishment of an electronic gas trading platform in southern Iran. According to Novak, Russia and Iran’s energy cooperation has expanded, with Russia’s Gazprom exploring joint development of the Kish and North Pars fields with Iran, followed by a project for liquefying gas and supplying it to global markets.
