YEREVAN, May 25. /ARKA/. The price offered by Iran for its natural gas is higher than the price of Russian gas delivered to Armenia through Georgia, Armenian Minister of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources Arthur Grigoryan told journalists on Friday.
He said the cost of Iranian gas on the Armenian border is $165 per thousand cubic meters, while the cost of Russian gas is $150 per thousand cubic meters. In addition, Armenia’s national gas distributor Gazprom Armenia invests $27-28 million in the modernization of the network.
Grigoryan said, negotiations on tariff reduction for Armenian users continue both with the Russian and Iranian sides. Asked why the price of gas almost doubles when it reaches Armenian households, Grigoryan said this is a question that should be addressed to the Public Services Regulatory Commission.
According to the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, in 2017 deliveries of Russian natural gas to Armenia increased by 7% to 1 billion and 996 million cubic meters and deliveries of natural gas from Iran grew by 2.9% to 382 million and 700 thousand cubic meters. The total gas consumption in Armenia in 2017 increased by 5.3%.
Today, as part of gas for electricity swap deal Armenia receives about 370 million cubic meters of gas a year from Iran, which is converted into electricity and is shipped back to Iran. Earlier it was reported that Iran would triple its gas exports to Armenia by 2019 and will also sell gas to Georgia through Armenia. In particular, Tehran was said to plan to increase natural gas exports to Armenia from 1 million cubic meters of gas per day to 3 million cubic meters.
The energy ministers of Armenia, Russia, Iran and the deputy energy minister of Georgia signed in April, 2016 in Yerevan a “road map” for the construction of about 1,000 MW North-South energy corridor.