Armenia gets the bulk of its natural gas from Russia. But ties with Moscow are fraying and Yerevan will soon have more alternatives, Oil Price reported.
The deal was made during a visit by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to Tehran. The memorandum of understanding was signed on November 1 by Majid Chegeni, Iran’s deputy minister of oil for gas affairs and director of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), and Gnel Sanosyan, Armenia’s minister of territorial administration and infrastructure, the source added.
Currently, Armenia imports about 365 million cubic meters of natural gas from Iran every year. "Now we export 1 million cubic meters of gas to Armenia daily, which will be doubled based on the new memorandum," Chegeni said.
The two sides trade energy based on a 2006 gas-for-electricity barter agreement; Armenia gets one cubic meter of gas from Iran in exchange for three Kilowatt hours of electricity produced by thermal plants in Armenia.
In early November, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who traveled to Tehran, attended a joint conference with Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi in Tehran’s Sa’dabad Complex.
Trade relations between Iran and Armenia have witnessed a 43% growth in recent months, said President Raeisi, adding that the goal is to increase trade relations up to $3 billion.
Iran and Armenia signed a memorandum of understanding on economic cooperation in the energy field on November 1, 2022.
After Iran and Armenia signed an MoU on economic cooperation in the energy field, the Iranian deputy oil minister said the gas exports to Armenia will double in the future.
AMK/PR