Iran and Azerbaijan will finalize a long-term contract for Azerbaijani gas supplies in the next three months, the Tehran Times reported on Thursday, citing a top executive at Iran's national gas company.
Iran, which needs Azerbaijani gas for its northern regions, currently has a short-term gas supply deal with its former Soviet neighbor that runs out in April.
The managing director of National Iranian Gas Export Company (NIGEC), Seyed Reza Kasaeizadeh, told the paper that under the deal Iran would receive 5 million cubic meters of the Azerbaijani gas per day (about 1.8 billion cubic meters per year).
The 1,474.5-km Kazi-Magomed-Astara gas pipeline, which links the two states, has an original capacity of pumping 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year.
Russian energy giant Gazprom started importing gas from Azerbaijan this year under an October 2009 deal for 500 million cubic meters of gas a year. Azerbaijan had until recently been an importer of Russian gas.
The head of Azerbaijan's state energy company said earlier in January it could double the amount of gas delivered to Russia this year to 1 billion cubic meters.
MOSCOW, January 21 (RIA Novosti)
