Official says Iran seeking to export natural gas through
Gulf island of Kish
BBC Worldwide Monitoring
22nd July, IRNA -- Tehran is preparing to export 4.8m tons of liquefied
natural gas and 600,000 tons of methanol from the South Pars gas field
to Southeast Asia, said Mohammad-Reza Yazdanpanah, managing director of
the Kish FTZ [Free Trade Zone] Organization.
In an exclusive interview with the English[-language] daily ' Iran News'
published Thursday [22nd July], he added that the gas will be transferred
to Kish first through a 200-km underwater pipeline where it will be processed
and shipped to Southeast Asia.
He further emphasized that it is more economical to ship liquefied natural
gas rather than transfer it through pipelines to Southeast Asia.
Maintaining that the processing of natural gas, separating the sulphur
and constructing a refining complex in Kish is estimated to cost about
1.2bn dollars, he added that the figure does not include the cost of the
200-km pipeline from the gas field to Kish Island.
He said that Kish authorities are engaged in holding negotiations with
foreign companies who are interested in the project to reach agreement
on their participation in the project, possibly on buy-back basis.
Furthermore, studies conducted by the Kish free trade zone have concluded
that Kish Island is the most suitable location for exporting Iranian gas
due to exemptions from certain regulations granted to free trade zones,
the existence of the necessary infrastructure and its proximity to the
world's largest gas reservoir.
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