Baku, Azerbaijan, June 24
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: A couple of European companies have participated in a tender for establishing natural gas storage facilities in Iran.
Iran's Natural Gas Storage Company's Managing Director Masoud Samivand said 34 European and Iranian companies have participated in the tender, Iran's Mehr news agency reported on June 24.
For the first time, 20-25 year contracts will be signed with foreign and domestic investors on Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis in the sector, he added.
Samivand said on June 11 that Iran's gas storage capacity currently stands at 8 billion cubic meters.
"Currently some 10 million cubic meters of gas can be extracted from Sarajeh gas storage facility," he said, adding that the figure will be raised by 5 million cubic meters in near future.
"Currently over 7 million cubic meters of gas per day is being pumped into the facility," he said, adding that some 13-15 million cubic meters of gas can be extracted from Sarajeh gas storage facility during winter.
"Some 10-15 million cubic meters of gas can also be extracted from Shoorijeh gas storage facility in winter," Samivand noted.
Iran plans to increase its gas storage capacity by the end of the current Iranian calendar year, which started on March 21.
"The country save some $350 million by storing gas in the facility and pumping it to the national gas network in the cold months," Samivand explained.