ANKARA Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Zeki Cakan and Iranian Ambassador to Turkey Mohammad-Hossein Lavasani here on Tuesday discussed ways of removing a "technical snag" in the implementation of a project to export Iranian gas to Ankara which was scheduled for inauguration last week.

Following the meeting, Lavasani told an IRNA correspondent here that the two sides stressed the need to take a principled decision to begin the gas exports.

Both Iran and Turkey realize that a crucial project of this kind will promote close and amicable relations between the two countries and should therefore not be affected by minor issues," he added.

"To show its goodwill and sincerity to implement and complete the project, the Iranian side is ready to test the (gas) meter once again," the Iranian envoy reiterated.

Gas delivery was supposed to start Monday last week, July 30, after a first postponement in January last year of the initial date of delivery agreed upon in the contract.

On Monday an inauguration ceremony was scheduled to start gas flowing into Ankara but again initial delivery was postponed because of what the Turkish side claimed as a "technical snag" it found in the gas meter in the Iranian side of the border, press reports said.

Iran has "26.6 trillion cubic meters of known natural gas reserves which can become a lucrative source of alternative income to oil," a morning daily wrote, suggesting that this additional source of income can go a long way in boosting the process of transforming the economy.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is second only to Russia in the vastness of its natural gas deposits.

According to the $20 billion gas project signed by Iran and Turkey in August 1996, Iran is to supply Turkey with 4 billion cubic meters (140 billion cu. ft.) of gas per year over a 22-year period.

Originally set for implementation in 1999, initial delivery gas been delayed for a variety of reasons.

The agreement between the two countries provides that the agreed amount for delivery can be adjusted to reach 10 billion cubic meters (350 billion cubic feet).

Iran has claimed it has duly performed its obligations under the contract, having laid the required pipeline up to the Iranian side of the border. It lit a torchlight at the border to signify it has completed laying of the pipes.

The Turkish state gas company BOTAS agreed in January 2000 to compensate Iran for the delay on its part in implementing the terms of the contract.

Managing Director of the National Iranian Gas Company Hamdollah Mohammad-Nejad said late July that construction of 255 kilometers of a 40-inch pipeline from Tabriz to the Bazargan border point has been completed.

Speaking to reporters, he said Turkey had also finished laying a 1,490 kilometer pipeline from the Iranian border to Ankara.

"There are four pumping stations to boost gas delivery in the cities of Tabriz, Sarab, Ardebil and Astara and we are now constructing a 48-inch pipeline to enhance our export capacity to Turkey," he said.

Some three billion cubic meters of gas are to be exported to Turkey in the first year (9 million cubic meters per day) of delivery which could be boosted to 10 billion cubic meters by the year 2007.

"We have finished the construction work and everything is ready for a July 30 launch," said Mohammad-Nejad.