Tehran Times cited Mr Javad Oaji deputy Oil minister of Ira as saying that Tehran and Baghdad are set to finalize a deal on gas exports from the Islamic Republic to Iraq in the near future.
Mr Oaji,who is also the MD of the National Iranian Gas Company,said that Iran would begin exporting natural gas to Iraq in 2013.
He said that''Once the aforementioned contract between the two countries is finalized,Iran will export 20 million cubic meters of gas per day to 25 million cubic meters of gas per day to Iraq in the scheduled time frame.''
Mr Rostam Qasemi Iranian Oil Minister said that the Islamic Republic is expected to start exporting natural gas to Iraq by March 2013 upon the completion of the Iran-Iraq gas pipeline project.
Iran's South Pars,which is part of a larger gas field shared with Qatar,is divided into 24 phases and holds about 14 trillion cubic meters of gas,or about 8%of the total world reserves,and more than 18 billion barrels of liquefied natural gas resources.
Iran,which sits on the world's second largest natural gas reserves after Russia,is making efforts to up its gas production by increasing foreign and domestic investments,especially in South Pars gas field.
