The implementation of the agreement between Turkmenistan, Iran and Azerbaijan on a natural gas swap for up to two billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas has started as of January 1, 2022, the Iranian daily Tehran Times reported on Saturday with reference to the ILNA news agency.
The tripartite gas swap agreement was signed on November 28 in Turkmenistan’s capital Ashgabat on the sidelines of the 15th Summit of Economic Cooperation Organization.
Under the agreement, up to 2 billion cubic meters of gas will be annually transported from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan through Iran.
Experts believe that the implementation of this deal could encourage other countries in the region to ink similar deals and to use Iran's capacities in this regard.
In an interview with the Tasnim news agency in December. he Iranian Petroleum Minister Javad Owji said this deal would contribute to ensuring the stable supply of natural gas to the northern regions of Iran.
Iran has major natural gas fields in the south, but has imported gas from Turkmenistan since the late 1990s for distribution in its northern provinces, especially during the winter.
In January 1, 2017, Turkmenistan has stopped gas exports to Iran due to the debt of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) for the previous gas supplies.