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Thursday, April 18, 2024 12:48 GMT
Former Managing Director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said sanctions had not affected Iran’s gas exports too much but it has definitely affected system of transferring money while issue of exporting gas to Pakistan is not serious for now.Speaking to ILNA, Ali Kardor said that raising issues raise regarding Iran’s sanctions is actually for taking advantage or discount or for taking advantage in deals with other countries.He noted that sanctions have not affected gas exports too much but it has caused problems in retrieving money for the exports and some try to use it for taking advantage from Iran or in deals with other states.Regarding the export of gas to Pakistan, Kardor said that export of surplus gas production to neighboring states like Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and the Persian Gulf states should be prioritized and it is very important in terms of energy strategy. He touched upon gas exports to Pakistan and said that Pakistan was willing Iran to finance the construction of the gas pipeline as the exporting country but Iran’s financial resources do not let it happen and actually the project has remained suspended.He noted that Pakistan is not in good economic condition for now and it meets its energy demands from other countries with getting considerable discounts and if it does not want to get gas from Iran it will replace Iran's gas with Turkmen gas but, in this case, it will have to pay much more cost. In addition, gas has to pass through Afghanistan to reach Pakistan so it will impose financial and security cost on this country. He added that if Pakistan constructs some 400 kilometers of gas pipelines, it can receive natural gas from Iran for its power-consuming cities.Kardor then pointed to talks with India for exporting gas to this country and said that some projects were not implemented but they are on the agenda. He admitted that Pakistan currently is getting LNG from Qatar and the issue of exporting gas to Pakistan is not serious for now.On the role of Russia in Iran’s gas exports projects, he said that what is clear is that Iran and Russia are two main gas rivals and each tries to maintain its market and to prevent rivals from entering it. He then pointed to the long distance with Europe for gas exports and said although Russians created some hurdles, the truth is that Iran has less chance for export to Europe because of its infrastructures and Tehran should prioritize gas export to neighboring countries while Europeans are working to reduce energy consumption and they want to replace fossil energies with renewable and atomic energies, and gas consumption in those countries is facing downward trend.Kardor reiterated that gas export to Europe will cost Iran very high and it is not logical to focus on it and it should focus on exporting gas in Asia and especially to countries like China, Japan and South Korea.He noted that Iran’s contract with Pakistan for gas export is based on the take-or-pay system and Iran can take the issue to the international arbitration court but politically it is not logical and Iran should not burn such contracts and should let them remain valid and it will have also positive affect on the relation between the two states. - Iran News, ILNA