It was announced Tuesday that Armenia has requested Iran to provide more natural gas at a one-month suspension of its gas imports from Russia, conducted via Georgia.
An operator of Georgian gas stopped deliveries of Russian gas to Armenia Sunday, citing the need for urgent repairs on a section of a Georgian pipeline extending to the Armenian border. The company announced that they will resume on 10 August.
Armenia buys about 80 percent of the gas used by its companies and its people to Russia. To compensate for the shortage, it was initially planned to use underground storage of gas just north of Yerevan.
However, the Armenian government decided to switch to emergency commands to Iran. Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan phoned Tuesday to Iranian First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri, ask for a sharp rise in gas deliveries from Iran to Armenia.
“Iran responded positively to the Armenian demand,” said a government statement. He did not reveal the volume of emergency gas imports from Iran by Abrahamian and agreed Jahangiri.
Armenia has imported up to 500 million cubic meters of Iranian gas each year since the construction in 2008 of a gas pipeline from the Islamic Republic. By comparison, the Russian gas controls to the South Caucasus countries amounted to almost 2 billion cubic meters.
With Armenia paying the Iranian gas with electricity it is expected that Iran will triple its gas export to Armenia after the construction of a third transmission line connecting the two neighboring countries. Work on the line, estimated at $ 120 million, should be completed in 2018.
Claire © armenews.com