• Natural Gas News

    Iran Says Armenia Lagging on Gas-Power Swap

Summary

The gas-for-power deal is smaller than it should be as Iran says Armenian infrastructure is lagging behind.

by: Dalga Khatinoglu

Posted in:

Natural Gas & LNG News, Middle East, Corporate, Import/Export, Political, Greater Caspian News, News By Country, Armenia

Iran Says Armenia Lagging on Gas-Power Swap

Iran says Armenia should import 60% more gas from Iran this fiscal year and export more power, but it does not have the infrastructure to do this, according to Iran. Under a 2004 gas-to-power barter deal, which took effect in 2009, Iran sells 1mn m3/d gas to Armenia and receives 3mn kWh/d, but the sides are to increase the volumes at the same rate – 1 m3 in exchange for 3 kWh – by 60% after March 21.

According to Iran’s energy ministry’s official statistics, Iran received about 1.45 GWh Armenian gas during last fiscal year which was traded for about 37% of Iran’s total power imports.

The statistics indicate that Armenian net power supply to Iran grew 31% growth on year, but gas imports remained unchanged, suggesting that Iran paid cash on top of the barter deal last year.

Armenian official statistics also show that Iran delivered only 340mn m³ gas to Armenia in 2017, about 9% less than the previous year. However, the national Iranian gas company CEO Hamidreza Aragi announced after a meeting with Armenian energy delegation on June 17 that for Armenia to raise its imports and exports, it needs to expand both its gas and its power facilities. He said that the Iranian side has already prepared the grounds, in line with their agreement.