Iran, Syria, Iraq to Sign Major Gas Deal

Iran, Syria and Iraq will sign a major gas deal on Monday to transfer Iran's South Pars natural gas to Europe.

Iran's acting oil minister Mohammad Aliabadi, as well as oil ministers of Iraq and Syria will attend a signing ceremony and choose a name for the pipeline to transfer Iran's gas to Europe, Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Javad Oji was quoted as saying by ISNA.

"Iran's gas output would be doubled within next two or three years due to expansion of gas fields, which makes possible the export of 250 million cubic meters of gas per day," Oji told a press conference on Sunday.

Earlier this month, Iran and Iraq discussed cooperation on Iran 's gas transfer from Iraq and Syria to Europe during an official visit of Iran's First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi to Baghdad.

Natural gas produced in Iran's South Pars oil and gas field would be pumped through Iran, Iraq and Syria to Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea before reaching Europe.  Under the deal, Iraq would also be able to access Iran's natural gas supplies.

The construction of the 5,600 km pipeline dubbed the Islamic Pipeline,  is estimated to cost five to six billion U.S. dollars, Oji added. The pipeline would ultimately have the capacity to pump 110 million cubic meters of natural gas per day.

Iran has the world's second largest gas reserves after Russia but has struggled for years to develop its oil and gas resources.

View a Report From Irans' PressTV HERE