Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Iran intends to pave the way for exporting goods to Turkmenistan in return for importing natural gas.

The news was announced by Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh at a meeting with Turkmen Vice-President Khajeh Mohammadov in Tehran on May 4, IRNA reported.

Zanganeh said the preparations have been done for a barter trade with Turkmenistan, under which Iran will export goods to Turkmenistan in return for Turkmen gas.

Turkmenistan is one of the key players of the energy market in the resource-rich Caspian region. The Central Asian state has the world's fourth largest natural gas reserves after Russia, Iran, and Qatar, and produces about 70-80 billion cubic meters of gas a year.

As part of its energy strategy, Turkmenistan intends to increase the production and export of natural gas, and diversify the routes of supply to major world markets.

Under the program for oil and gas development, the country's annual natural gas production is planned to reach 250 billion cubic meters by 2030, mostly for export purposes.

Iran and Turkmenistan have common land borders and are neighboring countries in the Caspian Sea. They have maintained relations since Turkmenistan gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Iran was the first nation to recognize Turkmenistan as an independent state. Since then, the two countries have enjoyed good relations and cooperation in the economic, infrastructure, and energy sectors.

Tehran has the largest volume of trade turnover with Turkmenistan after Russia, and the two countries' annual trade currently amounts to $4.2 billion. This figure is planned to increase up to $10 billion over the next five years.

Turkmenistan mainly exports natural gas, oil, petrochemical products, and textiles to Iran.