Iran to export gas to Oman, says Tehran oil minister

26 August 2013

Countries reach understanding on gas exports as Oman’s oil minister meets Iran counterpart in Tehran

Iran says it will export gas to Oman in the near future as the countries’ respective oil ministers reached an early agreement in Tehran, according to reports in the Iranian press.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh met his Omani counterpart, Mohammed bin Hammad bin Seif al-Rumhy, in Tehran on 25 August to discuss potential cooperation in between the two countries in the energy sector.

“A good understanding was reached on Iran’s gas export to Oman and we will follow the next steps in the near future,” Zanganeh was reported to have said by local news agencies.

Oman’s leader Sultan Qaboos bin Said al-Said is currently in Tehran in the first foreign visit to Iran by a foreign leader since President Hassan Rouhani took office on 4 August.

For Iran to export gas to Oman, the countries would need to build a pipeline across the Gulf of Oman, which separates the two countries.

Iran, which is estimated to have the largest reserves of gas in the world, only has one major export pipeline – to Turkey – and has had very little energy cooperation with the GCC countries across the Gulf.

Plans had long been in place for Iran to build a 280-kilometre pipeline to Sharjah in the UAE, but these broke down towards the end of the last decade due to a reported pricing dispute.

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