TEHRAN, (Shana) - Iran and South Korea have signed a $20 million agreement for the development of technical knowhow for mini-LNG ISO containers over a period of four years.
 The agreement on technical and research cooperation will facilitate international marketing for the two countries.
The memorandum was signed in South Korea's Busan between a group of companies led by National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) and a consortium led by South Korea's Oceanus.
The Korean side comprises KITECH, DongHwa Entec, Sung-IL Encare, Gs E&C, KoGas Tech and KGS. The NIGC-led consortium regroups LNG Institute of Tehran University (ILNG), Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI) and a number of engineering and manufacturing companies. The Iranian delegation was led by Saeed Pakseresht, director of research and technology at NIGC, Ali Vatani, head of ILNG, and Mansour Bazmi, deputy head of RIPI.
NIGC was looking for mini-LNG knowhow before signature of the memorandum. Establishment of ILNG was within this framework. For two years, NIGC has been in talks with RIPI and other companies to master technological savvy for LNG. To that end, Iran from the very beginning considering cooperation with South Korea which depends on LNG imports for its gas needs. Therefore, it has developed technical savvy for liquefied natural gas. The most important rivals of Iran and South Korea are GE and CryBox, both American, and European Siemens and Dresser-Randel.
Saeed Pakseresht, director of research and technology at NIGC, said at a press conference that mini-LNG plants with a capacity below 300 tons a day, gas could be converted to liquid throughout hot months of the year while in cold days it could be evaporated and injected to the gas distribution network.
He said one of the important usages of mini-LNG was gas supply to remote areas, adding: "The process of construction of mini-LNG plants and related storage ranks in areas with high consumption is aimed at curtailing peak consumption in winter."
Pakseresht said that when consumption declines relatively in winter, surplus gas could be gathered in these units and be liquefied. In this way, LNG storage tanks will be preserved.