“The remaining section of the Rasht-Chelavend gas pipeline will be completed within 2-3 months,” said a representative of the ministry of oil of Iran while talking to nCa in Ashgabat on 15 February 2023.
It is a comparatively small pipeline, 150km in length, 42 inch in diameter, and with daily throughput capacity of 15 million cubic meters (5.5 billion cubic meters per annum).
It is the shortest route for the Russian gas to reach Iran through the territory of Azerbaijan.
This pipeline can play multiple roles:
- It can be used to import gas from Russia for use in Iran under the existing agreement between Gazprom and the Iranian National Oil Corporation (NIOC)
- It can help increase the swap volumes between Iran and Turkmenistan for supplying to Azerbaijan, or onward inclusion in Southern Gas Corridor volumes toward Europe; there is direct connection with the Sarakhs-Neka-Rasht pipeline carrying Turkmen volumes into Iran
- It can be a building block for supplying the Gazprom volumes to South Asia through the territory of Iran
The completion of this pipeline was delayed by a few months because of the several layers of sanctions on Iran. /// nCa, 16 February 2023