Iran Plans Hike in Gas Exports to India, Pakistan

Iran is looking to export more gas to India and Pakistan to make up for a fall in crude exports, a National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) official said.

We are trying to compensate (for) the less (oil) export,” NIOC’s managing director for research and technology, Mohammad Ali Emadi, told reporters at a Moscow conference on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

“We are in negotiation with Pakistan and India to increase export of natural gas.”

Iran’s exports of crude oil to Europe and Asia have dropped as customers have been scaling back purchases ahead of European Union bans on imports and tanker insurance for ships carrying Iranian crude that are due to come into effect on 1 July.

Crude exports of Iran had dropped to 1.2-1.3 million barrels per day (mbpd) by the middle of last week, Mint reported citing oil company sources and a firm that tracks oil shipments.