Tehran's Oil Minister said Wednesday that renewed negotiations were under way between Iran and Armenia to export Iranian natural gas to Armenia, official IRNA agency said.
Head of the gas affairs ministry Hamdollah Mohammad-Nejad was quoted as saying that a "prior agreement had been signed with Armenia in 1995".
"But Armenia had not managed to raise sufficient funds and the project had been delayed", he said.
"For this project, Armenia would have to contribute up to 42 million dollars", he added.
"Recently, Armenia resumed negotiations and a trilateral committee comprised of Iran, Armenia and Greece was created . A Greek company should evaluate the exact amount of gas which can be conveyed to Armenia", he added.
Armenia recently confirmed it had started building a Iranian-Armenian gas pipeline that will enable the capital Erevan to receive 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
This pipeline is very important for Armenia, Armenian Infrastructure Minister said recently. "It will give us a security supply if there are problems with the Russian supply", he said.
This 140 kilometer-long (87 miles) pipeline will cost approx. 120 million dollars and 18 months to build.
An international consortium -- which could include Russia, Greece, France and China -- is also to be created by May 2001 for the building of the pipeline.
Iran has the world's second largest reserves of natural gas after Russia -- TEHRAN (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
