Turkey said on Monday that it could not start the scheduled importation of natural gas from Iran under a 1996 deal due to a technical deficiency on the Iranian side, reported AFP.
A metering station in Iran is not ready for operation, Turkish Energy Minister Zeki Cakan said in a written statement carried by Anatolia news agency.
"Turkish authorities are waiting to receive a certificate of suitability regarding the metering station, which will be issued at the end of tests and examinations by Turkish and Iranian technical commissions," the minister said.
Turkish experts have been in Iran for the tests since July 25.
"The certificate has not reached Turkish authorities yet," he said.
The Turkish statement contradicted an official announcement by Tehran on Sunday, which said the project was ready to become operational.
The flow of the gas via a pipeline from Tabriz in northwestern Iran to Ankara was scheduled to start on Monday under a 1996 agreement.
"The project for the supply of Iranian natural gas will be inaugurated on Monday," the Iranian Oil Ministry had said in a statement, cited by the official Iranian news agency, IRNA.
In the first year, Iran will export 3.0 billion cubic meters of gas, the ministry said, adding this volume should gradually increase and reach 10 billion cubic meters by 2007.
In line with a bilateral agreement reached last year, the contract was extended from 22 to 25 years, the statement said, adding the new contract provided for a total supply of 228 billion cubic meters, instead of the initial 192 billion.
Iran has the world's second largest natural gas reserves with an estimated 20,000 billion cubic meters.
In another development, Iraqi Oil Minister Amer Al Rashid said Sunday the planned gas pipeline between Iraq and Turkey would be linked to the east European and Russian network, according to the Gulf Daily News.
"We decided with Turkey to extend, in a second stage, the pipeline coming from eastern Europe and Russia," Rashid told Iraqi satellite television.
This project is important, as Turkey suffers from a real energy crisis, and it is "within its rights" to diversify its gas supply, added the minister, who has just visited Ankara for a meeting with the joint cooperation commission.
Baghdad and Ankara signed a deal in 1997 for the construction of a gas pipeline running 1,380km at a cost of $2.5 billion, to bring Iraqi natural gas to Turkey.
Other regional countries are looking to get in on the natural gas sector, with Egypt a recent addition to the list of countries with significant reserves – Albawaba.com
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