Azernews.Az

Said Isayev, Trend Agency observer

Up until now, Iran has mostly been worried about its oil exports, after several rounds of sanctions imposed on the country by the U.S. and Europe.

Now, it appears that the EU is considering a ban on Iran's gas exports, as part of a set of new measures to ratchet up pressure on the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program.

Diplomats from EU member states have started preparing a package of sanctions against Iran with a goal of formally adopting them at a meeting of foreign ministers on October 15 in Luxembourg.

Reuters reported that according to some of the diplomats, some countries, including Germany, Britain and France, support the package.

Iran, for its part, does not seem to be worried too much about the ban becoming active.

The Islamic Republic holds the world's second biggest natural gas reserves, and is the first in the region among gas producing countries, followed by Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Iran's gas production -- excluding gas flares or recycled gas -- increased in 2011 by 5.6 billion cubic meters compared to 2010, according to BP's Statistical Review of World Energy.

In 2010 Iran's gas production was estimated at 146.2 bcm, and the figure reached 151.8 bcm in 2011.

Several days after the news on a "gas ban" circulated, Iranian officials began to react to them. For example, Oil Ministry spokesman Ali Reza Nikzad-Rahbar regarded this as "propaganda", which basically means Iran is not worried much about such a ban or does not believe that it would be actually enforced.

Nikzad-Rahbar also noted that for the time being, no gas is being exported to the EU, adding that the new "EU threat will never emerge since the EU members can never make themselves politically dependent on other countries".

Iran currently transports its gas to Turkey, and is also expected to be exporting around 25 million cubic meters of gas to Pakistan in 2014.

According to Fars news agency, Iran has been holding talks with Switzerland and Greece regarding gas exports, and is also expected to export around 200 million cubic meters of gas to Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, and UAE during its five-year development plan.

For now, Iran can afford being confident or at least seems to be so, because the country's main importers are outside of Europe, it has enough gas for domestic use, and with regard to imports, the Islamic Republic deals with only one country in Central Asia, which is Turkmenistan. Iranian imports from Turkmenistan make up 10.5 bcm of gas annually.

Last month, ISNA news agency reported that the Iranian parliament said it plans to discuss a bill which may halt exports of crude oil in winter to countries which have imposed sanctions against the Islamic Republic's oil sector.

Head of the Iranian parliament's Energy Committee Massoud Mirkazemi said that "in winter the oil demand will increase, reaching its peak", adding that if the bill is approved, Iran will not be selling any oil to those European countries.

Tehran could take the same position on its gas exports. Thus far, judging by both official statements and online news reports, the possible gas ban is not the most alarming problem that Iran is worried about.