Turkey Resumes Gas Imports From Iran
The flow of gas resumed following an agreement signed between Turkish Energy Minister Zeki Cakan and his Iranian counterpart Bijan Namdar Zangeneh in Tehran in October, she added.
Turkey is expected to import 12 million cubic meters of gas from Iran per day this year, she said.
Cakan announced in September that his country had halted imports of natural gas from Iran via pipeline because of its poor quality and that Ankara would resume the flow only if the composition of the gas is brought in line with contract specification.
Iran rejected Turkish claims, with the oil minister saying the snag had been invoked by Russia's offer of cheaper gas.
Cakan and Zangeneh signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in October to resume the gas flow, but did not say whether they had reached any new deal on the price.
"It is not supposed yet to announce the price of gas," Zangeneh told IRNA when asked whether the two sides had agreed over Turkey's demand for a discount.
"Gas does not have an international price and any deal has its own formula in which there is room for flexibility," the Iranian oil minister added.
Cakan told reporters in Ankara on his return from Tehran that Turkey had started negotiations with Iran for lower priced gas, after getting a nine percent discount from Russia.
"With the signing of this agreement, the Iranian gas now will become more attractive to Turkey in view of the flexibility (shown) both in terms of quality and price," Cakan added.
Iran and Turkey launched a 2,577-kilometer pipeline in December, running from the northeastern city of Tabriz to Ankara, which supplies gas from southern Iran near the Persian Gulf.
Under a 30-billion-dollar deal, sealed during the tenure of Turkey's Former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, Iran would initially supply three billion cubic meters (105 billion cubic feet) of gas a year and increase it gradually to 10 billion cubic meters (350 billion cubic feet) in 2007.