Georgia may in the future buy Iranian gas, the country's Energy Minister said on the eve of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's visit to Georgia.
"Georgia-Iran relations are currently at a higher level than they used to be. Having no other alternative, Georgia will be able to buy Iranian gas only through Azerbaijan or Armenia. This is a long-term project that needs to be elaborated on," Kakha Kaladze was quoted as saying by panarmenian.net.
"Georgia has previously brought gas from Gazprom for commercial facilities and is likely to further cooperate with the Russian company," Kaladze said.
The Georgian minister earlier met his Armenian counterpart Yervand Zakharyan to discuss transit of electricity and the possibility of cooperation with Iran on gas supplies.
Following the meeting, Zakharyan told reporters that the construction of Georgia-Armenia, as well as Armenia-Iran power transmission lines was discussed.
Gas for Armenia
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh met Armenian Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Yervand Zakharyan, on October 4, in Tehran in which the two sides agreed to increase Iran's gas exports to Armenia and electricity imports from the country, Mehr News Agency reported.
Zanganeh said the details of growth in Iran-Armenia transactions will be further discussed by the two sides.
Iran and Armenia signed a deal in 2004 over the export of Iranian gas to the country. The annual capacity of Iran-Armenia Natural Gas Pipeline is about 2.3 billion cubic meters.
Earlier in September, Armenian Deputy Energy and Natural Resources Minister Areg Galstyan said current annual exports of electricity — 1.8 billion kWh — can be increased to 6.9 billion KWh.
According to reports, Iran and Armenia are building a third high-voltage electricity transmission line, set to be completed by 2018.
Managing director of the National Iranian Gas Export Company (NIGEC) said the country is ready to increase natural gas exports to Armenia.
Alireza Kameli made the remarks in an interview with Shana following the meeting between Zanganeh and Zakharyan.
He added that the pipeline taking Iran's gas to Armenia is capable of transmitting more than six million cubic meters of natural gas per day, but is currently taking only one million cubic meters.
"Since Armenia lacks necessary infrastructure, the country is currently unable to take full advantage of the capacity of the pipeline," Kameli said.