Iran Must Pay Turkey $1.9bn
Iran will pay $1.9bn in compensation to Turkey after losing a gas price dispute case brought by Turkey before the International Court of Arbitration.
Iran will also give 13.5% discount over gas price to Turkey, National Iranian Gas Company's managing director Hamidreza Araqi told a press conference January 24.
In 2012, Turkey referred Iran to the International Court of Arbitration for overpricing its gas sales to Turkey between 2011 and 2015. The court decided in Turkey's favour in February 2016 and ordered that both parties agree to a reduction in prices of between 10% and 15%.
Turkey imports about 9bn m³/yr from Iran under a 25-year deal signed in 1996. Iran is Turkey's second largest supplier after Russia.
Referring to the halt in Turkmen gas flows to Iran since the start of 2017, Araqi said that Iran would soon launch legal action against state exporter Turkmengaz soon: "Iran and Turkmenistan had agreed on a new gas contract at the end of 2016, but Ashgabat cut the gas flow suddenly.”
Turkmenistan says Iran had not repaid a $1.8bn debt after nine years and had taken less than its contracted quantity.
From 2006 to 2016, Iran imported about 74.35bn m3 of Turkmen gas, the official statistics of Iran’s oil ministry show. That compares with a contractual requirement to offtake 130bn m³ over the period.
Iran desk