Tag: Iranian natural gas

  • Turkey does not pay gold for Iranian gas, finance minister

    Turkey does not pay gold for Iranian gas, finance minister

    Turkey does not pay for natural gas from Iran in gold, Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said on Thursday.

    Until August, Iran imported large amounts of gold from Turkey before the United Arab Emirates took the lion’s share in the following months, official figures show. However, it is widely speculated that gold exported to the UAE continues on to Iran.

    State-run Halkbank is responsible for the Iranian payment issue, Simsek said, adding that gold exports to Iran are mainly from exchange offices and Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar, the traditional heart of the jewelry trade.

    The Central Bank of Iran banned all gold exports without its explicit approval to avoid a shortage of the precious metal, The Associated Press reported.

    A senior Central Bank official, Mohammad Reza Naderi, was quoted by the semi-official Mehr News Agency on Oct. 31 as saying that the new restriction was imposed due to currency fluctuations.

    According to Iranian law, the export of coins made from precious metals previously did not require a permit from the Central Bank, but current economic conditions have resulted in a decision to require Central Bank licenses for the export of such goods, Lebanon’s Daily Star reported.

    Iran’s currency, the rial, lost about 50 percent of its value earlier this month. The currency’s nosedive has been blamed on a combination of government mismanagement and the bite from tightened sanctions imposed regarding Iran’s nuclear program, which the West fears is aimed at producing a nuclear weapon.

    Iran denies the charge, insisting its uranium enrichment program is only for peaceful purposes such as fuel generation.

    via Turkey does not pay gold for Iranian gas, finance minister – Tehran Times.

  • Turkey prepares to sue Iran over ‘too high’ gas prices

    Turkey prepares to sue Iran over ‘too high’ gas prices

    gas iran

    According to the natural gas purchase contract between Turkey and Iran, Turkey has to buy at least 6.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Iran annually. (Photo: Today’s Zaman)

    17 January 2012 / TODAY’S ZAMAN, ANKARA

    Turkey is preparing to sue the Iranian government because the latter has declined to reduce the price of natural gas it sells unless a consensus is reached by the end of this week, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yıldız told reporters in Ankara on Monday.

    Yıldız said the Turkish government had earlier requested that Iran discount the price of natural gas Turkey buys from this country; however, the eastern neighbor rejected this demand. “We carried out a comprehensive study that determined that the amount of money we pay Iran for natural gas is too high. … We shared this with Iranian officials, but apparently they disagree with us,” Yıldız explained. Underlining that the government has to “protect the public interest” in any international agreement, Yıldız said the government has considered taking the issue to an international court of arbitration. “We are determined to take this step unless a desired solution is reached with Iran,” the minister said, adding that the Turkish side is ready to sit down to discuss the issue once again before the end of this week. Turkey depends on Iran for one-third of its natural gas imports.

    At the end of last year Turkey experienced a similar problem with another major gas provider, Russia. The Russian government agreed to lower the price of natural gas it sells after Turkey agreed to a key natural gas pipeline that will carry Russian gas to European markets via Turkey’s territorial waters in the Black Sea.

    High gas prices aside, Turkey, a net energy importer, is also facing challenges due to a much discussed “take or pay” condition that requires the country to import predetermined amounts of natural gas in almost all of its natural gas import agreements. According to the natural gas purchase contract between Turkey and Iran, Turkey has to buy at least 6.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Iran annually. This means Turkey has to pay Iran a specified amount of money irrespective of whether it needs that amount of natural gas. A similar situation exists for the supply of natural gas from Russia. Although the payments can be used in lieu of natural gas acquired in the future, there is a five year limit after which the amount paid cannot be used to obtain natural gas. In a time of poor domestic natural gas consumption, the Turkish Pipeline Corporation (BOTAŞ) is wondering whether it will be able to consume the (unused) natural gas that it has paid for.

    Meanwhile, the minister told reporters that German energy firm E.ON AG is mulling over making investments in Turkish markets, preferably with Turkish partners. As regards an electricity cut experienced in large Western provinces due to snowfall, the minister said they are working hard to avoid a repetition of the problem; however, he added, “New cuts are possible if weather conditions get worse.”

    via Turkey prepares to sue Iran over ‘too high’ gas prices.

  • Turkey urges more natural gas imports from Iran

    Turkey urges more natural gas imports from Iran

    TEHRAN, Oct. 12 — Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Javad Oji said Wednesday that Turkey has asked Iran to increase its natural gas exports to its northwestern neighbor, the state IRIB TV website reported.

    Oji said that Iran’s current gas exports to Turkey stands at 24 million cubic meters per day on average and expressed Tehran’s readiness to provide Ankara with more natural gas, said the report.

    The two countries have held negotiations in the past over an increase in the gas exports to Turkey, he said, adding that Iran has a capacity to export an average of 36-40 million cubic meters of natural gas per day to Turkey.

    According to the report, Turkey currently has natural gas purchase deals with countries such as Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan, as well as liquefied natural gas (LNG) deals with Nigeria and Algeria.

    In 2009, Iran and Turkey signed an agreement to transfer up to 35 billion cubic meters of Iran’s natural gas to Europe via Turkey.

    Earlier this year, Iran’s First Vice-President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi said exporting Iran’s natural gas to Europe through Turkey would be beneficial for both Tehran and Ankara.

    In a meeting with Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz in Tehran, Rahimi stressed the need for implementation of all agreements reached between Tehran and Ankara on energy cooperation.

    Yildiz said that his country was ready to increase its cooperation with Iran in the energy field and pointed out that Ankara was determined to help Tehran transit its natural gas to Europe.

    According to Iranian media, the gas pipeline to transfer Iran’s natural gas to Europe is scheduled to become operational in 2014.

    According to Iran’s Petroleum Ministry, Iran’s proved natural gas reserves are about 29,610 cubic kilometers or about 15.8 percent of world’s total reserves. It has the world’s second largest reserves after Russia.

    via Eastday-Turkey urges more natural gas imports from Iran.

  • No Israel gas transit via Turkey: Ankara

    No Israel gas transit via Turkey: Ankara

    Ankara has rejected requests from its private firms to allow the transit of natural gas produced in Israel through Turkey to Europe, says Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz, Press TV reports.

    Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz
    Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz

    Yildiz noted that private firms have proposed plans to carry Israeli natural gas to Europe via Turkish territory.

    “Had not nine of our nationals been murdered, there could be major developments in the energy distribution in the Mediterranean Sea. [Then] we would not have rejected the demand by private firms,” he said on Friday.

    Yildiz was referring to an Israeli attack on a Gaza-bound flotilla on May 30, 2010 that killed nine Turkish nationals.

    The Israeli attack, which drew worldwide condemnation, severely damaged ties between Turkey and Israel.

    Turkey has repeatedly called on Israel to apologize for the attack and pay compensation to the families of the victims, warning that Ankara-Tel Aviv relations will not normalize if Israel fails to do so.

    Tel Aviv has refused to apologize to Turkey over the deadly raid.

    DB/JG/HJL

    via PressTV – No Israel gas transit via Turkey: Ankara.

  • Iran halts gas flow to Turkey to do repairs

    Iran halts gas flow to Turkey to do repairs

    TEHRAN Oct 17 (Reuters) – Iran temporarily halted flows of natural gas to Turkey on Sunday for technical reasons, a gas official was quoted as saying by the ILNA news agency.

    “Iran stopped exporting gas to Turkey this morning to carry out some repairs,” Hassan Montazer Torbati, an official of National Iranian Gas Company said. The gas flows would restart soon, he said, without specifying.

    The repairs were happening at a plant on the border with Turkey, he said.

    Gas flows were halted two months ago due to an explosion on Aug. 24 and restarted on Sept. 25. A similar explosion occurred on July 21 and halted gas exports for 10 days. No explanation was given for either blast.

    Guerrillas from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have in the past claimed responsibility for attacks on oil pipelines from Iraq and Azerbaijan.

    Iran is Turkey’s second-biggest supplier of natural gas after Russia, sending 10 billion cubic metres of gas each year. Turkey uses gas to fire half of its power plants. (Writing by Robin Pomeroy)

  • ‘Iran is our friend,’ says Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan

    ‘Iran is our friend,’ says Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan

    • We have no difficulty with Ahmadinejad – Erdogan
    • Warning to Europe not to ignore Turkey’s strengths

    A13With its stunning vistas and former Ottoman palaces, the banks of the Bosphorus – the strategic waterway that cuts Istanbul in half and divides Europe from Asia – may be the perfect place to distinguish friend from foe and establish where your country’s interests lie.

    And sitting in his grandiose headquarters beside the strait, long the symbol of Turkey‘s supposed role as bridge between east and west, Recep Tayyip Erdogan had little doubt about who was a friend and who wasn’t.

    Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran‘s radical president whose fiery rhetoric has made him a bête noire of the west? “There is no doubt he is our friend,” said Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister for the last six years. “As a friend so far we have very good relations and have had no difficulty at all.”

    What about Nicolas Sarkozy, president of France, who has led European opposition to Turkey’s bid to join the EU and, coincidentally, adopted a belligerent tone towards Iran’s nuclear programme? Not a friend?

    “Among leaders in Europe there are those who have prejudices against Turkey, like France and Germany. Previously under Mr Chirac, we had excellent relations [with France] and he was very positive towards Turkey. But during the time of Mr Sarkozy, this is not the case. It is an unfair attitude. The European Union is violating its own rules.

    “Being in the European Union we would be building bridges between the 1.5bn people of Muslim world to the non-Muslim world. They have to see this. If they ignore it, it brings weakness to the EU.”

    Friendly towards a religious theocratic Iran, covetous and increasingly resentful of a secular but maddeningly dismissive Europe: it seems the perfect summary of Turkey’s east-west dichotomy.

    Erdogan’s partiality towards Ahmadinejad may surprise some in the west who see Turkey as a western-oriented democracy firmly grounded inside Nato. It has been a member of the alliance since 1952. It will be less surprising to Erdogan’s secular domestic critics, who believe the prime minister’s heart lies in the east and have long suspected his Islamist-rooted Justice and Development party (AKP) government of plotting to transform Turkey into a religious state resembling Iran.

    Erdogan vigorously denies the latter charge, but to his critics he and Ahmadinejad are birds of a feather: devout religious conservatives from humble backgrounds who court popular support by talking the language of the street. After Ahmadinejad’s disputed presidential election in June, Erdogan and his ally, the Turkish president, Abdullah Gul, were among the first foreign leaders to make congratulatory phone calls, ignoring the mass demonstrations and concerns of western leaders over the result’s legitimacy.

    Talking to the Guardian, Erdogan called the move a “necessity of bilateral relations”. “Mr Ahmadinejad was declared to be the winner, not officially, but with a large vote difference, and since he is someone we have met before, we called to congratulate him,” he said.

    “Later it was officially declared that he was elected, he got a vote of confidence and we pay special attention to something like this. It is a basic principle of our foreign policy.”

    The gesture will be remembered when Erdogan arrives in Tehran this week for talks with Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, that will focus on commercial ties, including Turkey’s need for Iranian natural gas. Ahmadinejad has voiced his admiration for Erdogan, praising Turkey’s recent decision to ban Israel from a planned Nato manoeuvre in protest at last winter’s bombardment of Gaza.

    Since the election, Iran has witnessed a fierce crackdown on opposition figures that has resulted in activists, students and journalists being imprisoned and publicly tried. Detainees have died in prison, and there have been allegations of torture and rape. Some of those alleging mistreatment have sought refuge in Turkey.

    But Erdogan said he would not raise the post-election crackdown with his hosts, saying it would represent “interference” in Iranian domestic affairs.

    He poured cold water on western accusations that Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon, saying: “Iran does not accept it is building a weapon. They are working on nuclear power for the purposes of energy only.”

    Erdogan has overseen a dramatic improvement in the previously frigid relations between Turkey and Iran, which was viewed with suspicion by the pro-secularist high command of the powerful Turkish military. Trade between the two countries last year was worth an estimated £5.5bn as Iran has developed into a major market for Turkish exports.

    Erdogan’s views will interest US foreign policy makers, who have long seen his AKP government as a model of a pro-western “moderate Islam” that could be adopted in other Muslim countries. They will also find an audience with President Barack Obama, who signalled Turkey’s strategic importance in a visit last April and has invited the prime minister to visit Washington. They are unlikely to impress Israel, which has warned that Erdogan’s criticisms risk harming Turkey’s relations with the US.

    Erdogan dismissed the notion, saying: “I don’t think there is any possibility of that. America’s policy in this region is not dictated by Israel.”

    He insisted that the Turkey-Israel strategic alliance – which some AKP insiders have said privately is over – remains alive but chided the Israeli foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, who he said had threatened to use nuclear weapons against Gaza.

    The Guardian