The Iranian Minister of Oil said: “In a meeting with the Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet for Oil and Gas Affairs of Turkmenistan, the other side asked us to increase gas swaps to Azerbaijan and other neighboring countries, to which we announced our readiness.”

Javad Oji on Tuesday (June 24) after meeting with Shahin Abdul Rahmanov told reporters that the 13th government of Iran has made good achievements in the field of energy diplomacy in the last 10 months. He said: “In the first months of this government, a gas swap agreement was signed from Turkmenistan to the Republic of Azerbaijan from Iran, and now 1.5 to 2 billion cubic meters of gas are swapped annually.”

He referred to his recent visit to the Republic of Azerbaijan in line with the strengthening of energy diplomacy and said: “During this visit, the Azerbaijani side asked us to double the gas swap from Turkmenistan, which was welcomed by Iran.”

The Minister of Oil continued: “In a meeting with the Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet for Oil and Gas Affairs of Turkmenistan, the Turkmen side also asked us to increase gas swaps to Azerbaijan and other neighboring countries, and we also announced our readiness.”

Referring to the existence of the necessary infrastructure and extensive gas transmission network in the country to increase the swap, Oji said: “While negotiating with the Turkmen side to increase the swap; Today, one of the topics of my talks with the Deputy Prime Minister of Turkmenistan for oil and gas was the revival of the Turkmen gas export contract to Iran.

He stated that the payment of gas debt from Turkmenistan is one of the topics of talks today with the Deputy Prime Minister for Oil and Gas Affairs of Turkmenistan. It will be deposited in the account of the Turkmen side.

Referring to Turkmenistan’s decision to develop its oil and gas fields, the Minister of Oil added: And we announced the readiness of a refinery by domestic companies.

Oji called the export of petroleum and petrochemical products, as well as the catalysts needed in the industry, as another focus of talks with the Deputy Prime Minister for Oil and Gas of Turkmenistan, and said: “Our proposal was fortunately welcomed by the Turkmen side.”

Active diplomacy in Latin America

Emphasizing that Iran’s energy diplomacy in Latin America has been very active in recent months, he said: And good contracts have been signed and are being formed.

The Minister of Oil pointed to the existence of 20% of the world’s oil and gas reserves in Venezuela and said: “Given the ability of Iranian contractors, we have begun negotiations to develop the country’s oil and gas fields, as well as increase capacity and overhaul of refineries in Venezuela.” We have reached good agreements in this country.

“Recently, the first Iranian-made tanker was delivered to Venezuela and we are planning to build another tanker. This shows that sanctions on the Iranian oil industry have not worked in recent decades and our exports of crude oil and gas condensate have never stopped,” Oji said. Because today the world needs to export our products.

Referring to his speech on the capacity of the country’s oil and gas resources to meet the needs of different countries at the Baku Energy Summit, he said: “Unfortunately, the oppressive US sanctions have deprived many countries of the blessings of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The transit route of oil and gas resources is ready to have gas swaps, crude oil and petroleum products with neighboring countries.

We have said many times that we have no plans to increase the price of gasoline

The Minister of Oil also emphasized on spreading rumors about the increase of gasoline prices in cyberspace: I and my colleagues in the Ministry of Oil have repeatedly stated that the 13th government has no plans to increase the price of gasoline on the agenda.