The National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) authorities announced that a major gas pipeline project that is being constructed along the Caspian Sea is near completion amid Iran’s plans to increase gas supply to Azerbaijan under a swap deal with Turkmenistan, the Iranian Press TV reported on Sunday.
The head of NIGC’s dispatching operations Mohammad Reza Joulayi said that the Rasht-Chelavand pipeline will be ready for gas transportation within the next few days.
Joulayi told the Iranian Petroleum Ministry’s news service Shana that the 42-inch, 150-kilometer gas pipeline will play a major part in Iran’s gas supply arrangements with Azerbaijan.
The NIGC started the construction of this gas pipeline in 2019 with the aim of expanding its gas transfer network in colder regions in north of the country.
However, the project accelerated in November after Iran signed a major deal for swap of gas with Turkmenistan for delivery to Azerbaijan.
The tripartite gas swap agreement was signed on November 28 in Turkmenistan’s capital Ashgabat on the sidelines of the 15th Summit of Economic Cooperation Organization. The implementation of the agreement has started as of January 1, 2022. Under the agreement, up to 2 billion cubic meters of gas will be annually transported from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan through Iran.
