Construction of a 600-million euro pipeline supplying Iranian natural gas to Turkey and Europe will soon begin, Iran's English-language satellite channel Press TV reported Saturday, citing a senior oil official.
"A 56-inch-diameter pipeline will be extended to Iran's border point of Bazargan to boost gas exports to Turkey and Europe," Press TV cited Seyyed Reza Kasaeizadeh, Iran's deputy oil minister, as saying.
Kasaeizadeh said he hoped the project would soon be tendered, adding that the 420-kilometer pipeline was of great importance for Iran, Press TV reported.
Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said last week Turkey and Iran are discussing increasing natural gas exports to Turkey and supplying the country with more gas next winter, Press TV reported.
"During the Jeddah OPEC summit, the two countries discussed terms for a joint venture to lay a natural gas pipeline extending from the South Pars gas field to the Bazargan border," Nozari said, according to Press TV.
Iran has the second-largest natural gas reserves in the world after Russia.