Rosneft, Not Gazprom, Is Discussing Swapping Gas With Iran

Two months after tough negotiations between Iran and Russia over the possibility of a gas swap, the information website of Iran's Oil Ministry has revealed that Rosneft officials are in Tehran to talk about the gas swap issue.

News agency Shana has reported that, on November 11, Iran and Rosneft officials agreed to establish a joint committee to achieve gas swap operations.

Previously, on November 1, an Iranian top oil official announced that representatives of a Russian company are scheduled to visit Iran to talk about oil, gas, and oil product swaps.

Amir Hossein Zamaninia, the Islamic Republic’s deputy oil minister did not reveal any additional information about the company or the date of the visit. Currently, Gazprom is the solo Russian gas exporter, while the country's largest oil producer Rosneft has asked the government to end Gazprom's decade-long exclusive right to export pipeline gas in July.

CEOs of both Russian companies were in Iran among a delegation headed by Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak last month.

Novak said earlier that Russia can deliver gas to Iran’s northern regions and receive Iranian LNG in the Persian Gulf.

Iran has an LNG plant, which is 50% developed at present. It is projected to become operational by 2019.

Russia and Iran are connected via the 1474.5-kilometre-long Gazi-Magomed-Astara-Bind-Biand gas pipeline. It was put into operation in 1971. Azerbaijan upgraded it last decade and installed the Astara gas compressor station.

Other infrastructure connections, which link Russia to Iran through Turkmenistan, carry out several times more gas delivery than the Azerbaijani route.