Explosion Knocks Out Iranian Gas Flows to Turkey
The pipeline carrying Iranian gas to Turkey exploded in Turkish territory on the morning of March 31, cutting off supplies, Iran's state gas company NIGC has announced.
“The attack was probably conducted by terrorist groups inside Turkey,” the head of NIGC Mehdi Jamshidi Dana told the state-run Irna agency, adding that Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) had carried out several attacks on pipeline in the past and were likely behind the latest one.
Turkey has not disclosed a reason for the explosion as investigations are ongoing.
Turkey's Daily Sabah reported, citing local authorities, that the blast hit a section of a pipeline near the Gurbulak border crossing in the eastern province of Agrı. “The explosion sent a huge plume of flames. The gas supply was cut off and firefighters put out the fire," the agency said.
After previous explosions, the gas flow was resumed within several days.
According to Turkish energy regulator Emra’s statistics, Iran exported 7.735bn m3 gas to Turkey in 2019, 1.6% less than in 2018. Emra has not published any statistics for 2020 yet.