TEHRAN – Head of National Iranian Gas Company’s engineering subsidiary Reza Noshadi has said that the country is pressing ahead with the construction of a key pipeline that will transfer natural gas to coastal areas in its southeast with an eye to launching gas exports to Oman, according to a senior official in the state run gas company the NIGC.
Noshadi said that the 200-kilometer pipeline from Minab, in southern Iran, to Kuhmobarak, on the Sea of Oman, will boost gas supply to domestic customers in the region while enabling Iran to show its capacity to supply gas to Oman.
Noshadi said that a 120-kilometer section of the pipeline, from Minab to Sirik, is almost 87% complete while works on the second section, from Sirik to Kuhmobarak, had started in February.
He said the pipeline will be connected to the seventh leg of Iran’s gas pipeline grid, adding that the gas supply to the pipeline will come from South Pars, the world’s largest gas field which is located on the maritime border between Iran and Qatar in the Persian Gulf.
He said, however, that Iran will rely on extra gas supplies from countries like Russia under swap arrangements to be able to launch exports to Oman.
The official said that the expansion of gas pipelines to coastal areas in Iran’s southeast will boost the country’s new export capacities.