Armenian venture into Iranian gas in pipeline
Güncelleme Tarihi:
AFP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Aralık 24, 2008 00:00
YEREVAN - Construction is to begin next year on a pipeline to deliver petrol and diesel from Iran to Armenia, the Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisian said Monday.
The 300 kilometer pipeline will run from the Iranian city of Tabriz to the Armenian city of Eraskh, where a terminal is to be built, Movsisian said at a press conference. "Armenia will receive petrol and diesel fuel from the oil refinery located in the Iranian city of Tabriz through the pipeline, construction of which starts next spring," he said.
Movsisian said the pipeline would take two years to complete and each country would pay half the $200-240 million cost. He said the project was part of efforts by Armenia to diversify its energy supplies, in particular after the war in neighboring Georgia in August disrupted Russian supplies to Armenia.
"In order to guarantee the country's energy security we are moving toward the diversification of energy supplies," he said.
Armenia and Iran last year inaugurated a 150-kilometer pipeline intended to deliver 36 billion cubic meters of gas from Iran to Armenia over 20 years. It has yet to start operations. Landlocked Armenia suffers from an economic blockade imposed by neighbors Azerbaijan and Turkey over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region and its efforts to gain recognition of Ottoman-era mass killings of Armenians as genocide.
Movsisian said the pipeline would take two years to complete and each country would pay half the $200-240 million cost. He said the project was part of efforts by Armenia to diversify its energy supplies, in particular after the war in neighboring Georgia in August disrupted Russian supplies to Armenia.
"In order to guarantee the country's energy security we are moving toward the diversification of energy supplies," he said.
Armenia and Iran last year inaugurated a 150-kilometer pipeline intended to deliver 36 billion cubic meters of gas from Iran to Armenia over 20 years. It has yet to start operations. Landlocked Armenia suffers from an economic blockade imposed by neighbors Azerbaijan and Turkey over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region and its efforts to gain recognition of Ottoman-era mass killings of Armenians as genocide.