Iranian oil minister says transit of oil, gas to Russia

IRANIAN PRESIDENCY AFP TEHRAN -The transit and trade of oil and gas with Russia will make Iran a regional energy hub, Iranian oil minister Javad Owji said on Thursday.

Owji made remarks on the sidelines of the ongoing Caspian Economic Forum held in the Russian capital of Moscow, according to the official IRNA news agency.

He said that Iran and Russia, two gas exporting countries, have a lot of cooperation in the field of energy swaps.

During his visit to Russia, new understandings will be reached for the establishment of facilities and the joint exploitation of gas fields, the Iranian minister said.

He mentioned the agreements with the Russian Gazprom company, and announced a joint investment agreement for the production of LNG liquefied natural gas and related technologies for gas facilities in Iran.

Owji said that both countries have signed cooperation agreements on gas export to Pakistan and Oman and the construction of an export pipeline to these two countries in the south of Iran and that they attach great importance to the cooperation between Iran and Russia in Iran's North and South Pars and Kish gas fields.

The Iranian minister said that Tehran and Moscow are able to swap 10 million tons of oil and non-oil products, for which facilities like vessels and ports have been established and equipped, due to the swap of oil products such as gasoline in the Caspian Sea region and the exchange of non-oil items with oil.

He said Iran's cooperation with the Caspian Sea littoral states in the energy sector is strategic and expressed hope that a 15 billion cubic meters gas swap agreement through Turkmenistan will be completed within the next few weeks.