Iran and Turkmenistan sign gas swap deal to supply Turkmen gas to Iraq

This contract was signed during a ceremony attended by Ali Mojtaba Rozbahani, Iran’s Ambassador to Turkmenistan, and Maksat Babayev, head of Turkmenistan’s state-run gas company “Turkmen Gas”.

The two sides issued a statement on the deal. The statement said Turkmenistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran, based on the principles of friendship, good neighborliness, mutual respect, and equal participation, have been expanding their relations in the gas field for many years.

It added that the positive experience of joint efforts to export Turkmenistan’s gas to Iran and through that country’s territory to other nations is a solid basis for increasing the capacity of bilateral cooperation.

The statement noted that negotiations between the two sides were held in Ashgabat on July 1-3, during which a wide range of issues were discussed and an agreement was reached.

Under the swap agreement, up to 10 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas will be supplied to the Republic of Iraq through the Iranian territory.

Meanwhile, Iranian companies will build a new gas transmission pipeline of 125 kilometers along with three gas pressure boosting stations in Turkmenistan, which can increase the capacity of the country’s gas exports to Iran to 40 billion cubic meters per year.

Iran and Turkmenistan also entered into a swap deal in 2022 and 2023 that took Turkmen gas through Iran to the Republic of Azerbaijan.