ASHGABAT (TCA) — A dispute between Iran and Turkmenistan over natural gas prices may lead to Turkmenistan losing its major gas importer, Iran’s PressTV news agency reported on December 28.
Turkmenistan has threatened to stop the gas flow across the border if Iran does not settle a debt which it claims remains outstanding from previous imports.
Ashgabat claims Iran owes it $1.8 billion from sales between 2007 and 2008 when freezing winters led to severe shortages across 20 Iranian provinces, forcing the country to raise gas imports from its northeastern neighbor.
At the time, Turkmenistan demanded a nine-fold hike of the price up to $360 from $40 for every 1,000 cubic meters of gas.
According to Turkmen officials, the balance has built up to a debt of $1.8 billion which Iran is rejecting and has threatened to take the case to international arbitration.
Iran holds the world’s biggest gas reserves but they are mostly located in the country’s south, making the country reliant on its neighbors for supplies in the northern provinces.
A recent drop in temperatures across Iran has prompted Turkmen authorities to threaten a halt to the gas flow unless the Islamic Republic pays the alleged debt.
Iran currently imports about 35-40 million cubic meters of gas a day from Turkmenistan under a deal which has stood for the past 20 years.
Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh has announced that if Turkmens insisted on halting the gas flow, Iran would stop its energy dealings with the country, IRNA reported on December 28, adding that experts believe that Ashgabat would be the biggest loser of this dispute.
