Iran is looking to strengthen its ties with Russia by improving cooperation with energy company OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS), Iran's oil minister said Monday, the Oil Ministry's Shana News Agency reported.
Gholam Hossein Nozari, speaking at a press conference, said Iran will improve its cooperation with Gazprom, adding that one way of collaborating with the company is through natural gas swaps, according to Shana.
"One means of cooperation is to receive some of their gas in the north of the country and deliver it (gas) to the south," Shana cited the oil minister as saying.
"For the export of natural gas to Europe, our priority is the Turkish route," Nozari said, adding that "other options" would be pursued "if we do not achieve our goal...one of which is to export gas in the form of LNG liquefied natural gas)," Shana reported.
Nozari also commented on Iran's role as an oil transport route in light of security concerns about transit routes through Georgia, Shana said."Our whole project in this matter is the construction of the Neka-Jask pipeline," Nozari said, adding that the pipeline would establish a transport route capable of carrying one million barrels of crude oil from the Caspian Sea littoral states to the Sea of Oman, according to Shana.
The oil minister said that Iran has carried out negotiations "with our northern neighbors for gas, oil and oil product swaps," Shana said.
Nozari said Iran could swap oil, natural gas and oil products for crude oil that could be used at Iran's refineries in Tehran and Tabriz, according to Shana.