Iran acquitted of gas short weighting charge

Tehran, Dec 3, IRNA - The International Court of Arbitration rejected Turkey’s complaint alleging Iran short weighting its gas exports. However, Ankara’s case alleging Iran overcharged for gas export is being studied and no verdict has been issued in this regard. Azizollah Ramezani, a director of National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), said Tuesday that Turkey’s Butash Oil company had filed a complaint against Iran claiming that since Tehran cannot guarantee stable gas supply to Ankara, it should lower the price. “Iran won the case in the International Court of Arbitration,” he said. Ramezani noted that the complaint was filed in January 2012, adding that the final verdict was issued on November 10, 2014. Turkey filed a formal complaint against Iran over gas price with the International Court of Arbitration in March 2012. Iran reportedly charges Turkey $490 for every 1,000 cubic meters of natural gas exported to its western neighbor. This is while Turkey claims that the Republic of Azerbaijan and Russia supply gas to Turkey at $335 and $425 per 1,000 cubic meters respectively. Iran owns the world’s largest natural gas reserves after Russia and is also Turkey’s second biggest gas supplier after Russia. Iran’s natural gas is of crucial importance to Turkey, as the energy-hungry country uses a significant portion of imported Iranian gas to generate electricity. On January 31, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said his country may double natural gas imports from Iran, if the two countries agree on a price. Yildiz said natural gas purchases from Iran were a key issue during Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Iran. Erdogan paid an official visit to Iran last December and held talks with Iranian officials on expansion of bilateral trade and energy ties./end