Russian Firms to Expedite Iran Gas Projects: Official

Mehran Amir-Moeini, Deputy International Affairs Manager for Marketing and Gas Operations at the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said: “Given the progress Russia has made in the gas sector, including large-scale projects, especially in deep-water, drilling technology and project financing, it can facilitate implementation of projects such as the development of gas fields, liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants and construction of pipelines in deep water projects in Iran by transferring these experiences to the country.”

Can Iran compete with the price of Russian gas in Europe? Shana asked.

"Russia is blocking the export of Iranian gas to Europe." You may have heard this sentence many times, some believe that there is no need for Iranian gas to go to Russia, and others consider the export of Iran’s gas to Europe to be politically and economically strategic.

Mehran Amir-Moeini said that Iran and Russia are the top two countries in terms of gas reserves and are competitors in gas trade, but these days there is a lot of controversy that Russia does not allow Iran to enter the European market.

“There are two points; that Russia wants to act openly does not seem to be the case. Russia has the tools to export gas to Europe, when you want to enter the European market, price is an important issue, the Russians can maneuver on it. Can Iran compete with Russian price and is there flexibility in price offers from Iran? The second point is whether Russia wants to have a competitor in the European market. The answer to this question is definitely "no". Is the European market important for Russia? Yes, it is 100% important, it is even more important than Iran. In any case, Russia is closer to Europe than we are, and it has created and developed the necessary infrastructure to enter this market, and it has a history of being present in this region, but saying the Russians prevented us from entering this market does not seem a correct and logical statement.”

He emphasized that in order to enter the European market, Iran must pay attention to how important this market is for Tehran. "Is it so important that we forgo all our interests in other export markets in the first place and our only goal is to reach the European gas market?" he asked. “In the case of Russia, too, I believe it would have been possible if we had wanted to enter the European market ourselves.” - Shana