“Gazprom” wants to take part in projects for LNG in Iran, seeing them as a way to organize to come up with its own gas to India and the Middle East markets. But industry players and analysts are skeptical about the prospects for LNG production in Iran. For such plants need Western technology and investors, as they can find in the market is much less risky opportunities for LNG.
“Gazprom” has applied to participate in LNG projects in Iran, said yesterday the local agency Mehr. The company did not comment on it. “Kommersant” a source in “Gazprom” said that although the monopoly and said during the talks with Iran about its interest in such projects, of sending a formal proposal or requests he did not know. Last week, the head of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation Alexander Novak, which is part of the board of directors of “Gazprom”, said that the company would like to participate in the development of the General Scheme Iran’s gas industry, construction of gas pipelines and gas storage facilities, production projects and LNG projects, not only to liquefy but also in gas marketing.
Today in Iran there are no LNG plant, although tougher sanctions Tehran had big plans for their construction, mainly on the basis of the giant South Pars field in the south of the country. Total with Malaysian Petronas LNG plant built Pars LNG capacity of 10 million tons per year at the base of the block 11 of the South Pars, but in 2008 the company because of the sanctions have left the project, leaving it ready to 50-70%. Shortly before that, so I did Shell and Repsol consortium that planned Persian LNG-based power unit 13 to 15 million tons per year. “Gazprom” with Petronas engaged prey on the blocks 2-3, and in 2008 signed a memorandum of understanding with the Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) on the construction of an LNG plant, but has not been made practical steps.
As told “Kommersant” interviewees in “Gazprom” for the company in the idea of an LNG project in Iran, the most attractive is the possibility of a large-scale exchange of gas. “Gazprom” could supply gas to northern Iran (now this area is supplied from Turkmenistan) and pick up the equivalent of LNG volumes from ports in the south. Deliveries to the north of Iran could lead both through Azerbaijan (swap with a local gas) and from Turkmenistan, with which “Gazprom” until recently was a contract for the purchase of gas (on the Russian side version, the contract is broken from the beginning of the year, but It is likely to be renewed anyway). LNG from Iran, “Gazprom” could deliver on the growing markets of South and Southeast Asia, especially in India, where direct shipments from Russia difficult to organize. In addition to the economic benefits of “Gazprom” could get and strategic dividends, while retaining control over key gas streams in Central Asia and the Caspian region, as well as strengthen its position in the Middle East.
However, the interlocutors “b” on the market does not believe in the feasibility of these plans in the near future. “To build an LNG plant in the major shareholders want – Shell, Total, Exxon, – and these companies in the current situation in the gas market to build a plant in Iran will not be”, – said one of the “Kommersant” sources. He noted that the LNG price in the coming years will be low, and the end of the decade, according to his power in the world of production, it is likely to be underutilized. “In this situation, hardly someone will be willing to pay $ 10-12 billion in the Iranian political risks”, – he says. Valery Nesterov of Sberbank Investment Research reminds us that companies from the US, even after the lifting of sanctions in Iran practically do not work, and most of the LNG technology is available from American suppliers. In “Gazprom”, as in the Russian Federation in general, large-scale gas liquefaction technology is not. “No Iranian gas on the market does not expect a business interest in new LNG projects currently low” – agrees analyst. According to him, the interest of “Gazprom” to Iran – to a greater extent in the future work, as well as an attempt to agree on a strategy with a possible competitor.
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