Iran to boost gas exports to neighboring countries

Iran says it has already made new gas export deals with regional countries which will be finalized once the sanctions against the country are lifted.

“Our top priority in gas sector is meeting domestic demands and exporting gas to neighboring countries at a reasonable price,” Iran’s Petroleum Minister Bijan Zangeneh said.

Iran sits atop the world’s 4th largest oil reserves and the second largest gas reserves. Its energy sector has been subject to US-led sanctions over the country's nuclear program over the past several years.

Zangeneh made the comments in a meeting with the directors of German energy companies in Berlin.

He pointed to German companies' call for cooperation with Iranian energy companies and said the Iranian government is ready to support investors in oil and gas sector.

The Iranian petroleum minister reiterated that Iran needs modern technology to “extract more oil and gas from energy fields across the country.”

Zangeneh met German Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel on Thursday in Berlin where the Iranian minister is to attend the third annual energy security summit.

They discussed the sale and purchase of petrochemicals and investments in Iranian oil and gas projects, through the transfer of technology and engineering contracts, The Wall Street Journal quoted him as saying.

German companies are vying to regain their foothold which they lost in Iran in the wake of a concerted US and European campaign to pressure the country over its nuclear program.

Both sides are currently in talks with the Islamic Republic to reach a final settlement to their disagreements which would remove sanctions on Iran.

Iran and the P5+1 –  the US, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany – are engaged in intense negotiations to work out a comprehensive agreement aimed at ending the longstanding dispute over the Islamic Republic’s civilian nuclear work.

Iran and the P5+1 along with officials from the European Union reached a landmark framework agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program on April 2 in the Swiss lakeside city of Lausanne.

The two sides are set to start drafting a final accord, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which is expected to come until the end of June.