Turkey defies US with more imports of Iranian gas
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Turkey imports 11 billion cubic meters of gas from Iran along the Tabriz-Ankara pipeline
Iran is increasing its natural gas exports to a number of countries, including Turkey which plans to raise imports from its energy-rich neighbor, a senior official says.
“Based on previous agreements, Iran is currently increasing gas exports to a number of countries including Turkey, Iraq, Armenia and Azerbaijan,” head of the National Iranian Gas Company Hassan Montazer Torbati told IRNA.
Turkey, which currently receives 353 billion cubic feet per year from Iran under a 25-year agreement signed in 2001, has requested to purchase more Iranian natural gas, he said.
Last week, Iran launched four new development phases of the world’s largest gas field at South Pars with a capacity to produce 112 million cubic meters per day.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Turkey will continue to buy natural gas from Iran despite US sanctions chiefly targeting the Islamic Republic’s energy sector.
Iran is a key energy supplier for Turkey, which is almost 100-percent dependent on fuel imports, with natural gas accounting for nearly 40 percent of the country’s electricity production.
The US has pledged to be "aggressive and unwavering" in enforcing economic sanctions on Iran and not allow any country to flout them, but Erdogan has said Turkey would not remain silent to the “use of economic sanctions as weapons”.
EA
