US LNG Exports No Threat for Iranian LNG

Iranian LNG market faces no threat from US LNG exports because of higher production cost in America, Press TV reported quoting an Iranian energy offfcial.

Ali Kheirandish, managing director of Iran's LNG Company, said Wednesday that the US uses shale gas reserves to produce LNG, which is costlier than producing LNG from natural gas. 

The official stated that American LNG producers have to pay about two dollars to transfer one million BTU of shale gas to coastal facilities. 

“Extraction of one million BTU of shale gas also costs about $5-7, while gas liquefaction costs about USD 2-2.5 (per BTU) for the Americans,” he said. 

Kheirandish also stated that marine transport of one million BTU of LNG costs US producers about USD 12. 

Earlier in October, Mohsen Qamsari, National Iranian Oil Company's director general for international affairs, announced plans to increase Iran's share in the global gas market to 10 percent and become a major LNG supplier through the production of 70 million tons of liquefied natural gas by 2015. 

Qamsari said experts were diligently developing the LNG industry as an alternative to crude oil exports.