Oil Minister:

Iran to discuss North-South gas corridor in Thur. SCO meeting

EghtesadOnline: The Iranian oil min considered the upcoming meeting of Prime Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as a good opportunity to reach a multilateral agreement on gas transit in Central Asia.

News ID: ۸۰۵۱۶۰

25 October 2023

The Iranian oil minister Javad Owji will accompany the Iranian delegation in the the 22nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) which will be held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan later this week on Thursday, October 26.

The Iranian delegation will be headed by Mohammad Mokhber, the first vice president.

"During the Russian Energy Week that we attended in Moscow, the President of Russia mentioned Iran as one of the new markets for Russian gas, considering the country's deep rows with Europe, and we also announced our readiness to take measures for the transfer and sale of Russian gas through Iran," Owji said.

The Iranian oil minister added that, "the launch of the gas corridor requires coordination with the countries that the path of this swap crosses them, and all of them are going to participate at the SCO prime ministers meeting. This is while the pipeline of this route from Russia to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Iran is already available."

He further expressed hope that "On the sidelines of this summit, while promoting economic cooperation in the framework of the SCO, multilateral agreements can also be concluded to operationalize this idea and the convergence of the countries of the region."

"With the participation of Iran and Russia which have the largest oil and gas reserves in the world, as well as the presence of India and China which are the largest energy consumers in the world, who all are members of the SCO, and using this capacity, interactions in this field can be greatly increased," the Iranian minister added.