IRAN. Turkey’s Energy Minister said yesterday the country would push ahead with a planned deal to produce and export gas from neighbouring Iran, saying cancellation of the deal was “out of the question”. Turkey and Iran failed to conclude expected energy accords during a visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Turkey in August. The US, which is seeking to isolate Tehran over it nuclear programme, opposes the plan. “It is of the question that the natural gas deal with Iran will be suspended. I will go to Tehran to sign when the text of the deal is ready,” Hilmi Guler said.
Under the deal, Turkey’s state-owned petroleum company TPAO will explore in Iran’s South Pars field and gas will be piped to Turkey for consumption or re-export to European markets.
Guler also said that Azerbaijan had agreed to sell extra gas produced in the second phase of its Shakh-Deniz project to Turkey.
The minister said the government plans to finish off the tender process for Turkey’s first nuclear power plant this month and also intends to launch a tender for a second nuclear power station in the Black Sea town of Sinop by the end of this year.
A Turkish-Russian group was the sole bidder in a tender to build and operate Turkey’s first nuclear power plant. The bidding consortium consisted of Russian firms Atomstroyexport and Inter Rao along with Turkey’s Park Teknik Group.
Filed under: Iran, Islamic countries, Middle East, Turkey, political
