Iran signs contract to export gas to Oman

  Iran will export an annual 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas to neighboring Oman, local media reported Thursday. Under a contract signed by the two countries, Iranian gas will be pumped through a pipeline from the southern Iranian province of Hormuzgan to Oman's Sohar port, where it will join the Oman's domestic natural gas network, Press TV quoted Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh as saying on Wednesday during a visit by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Oman's capital, Muscat. The contract is an extension of a memorandum of understanding signed last year, by which Iran agreed to export gas to Oman from 2015, in a 25-year deal valued at some 60 billion U.S. dollars. Oman will use some of the imported gas for its domestic consumption but might process part of the gas into liquefied natural gas and export to neighboring countries, Zanganeh said. The pipeline and related infrastructure, estimated at around 1 billion dollars, will be funded by Oman, Zanganeh. Iran has huge gas reserves in the south of the country, but has been unable to enhance its gas production quickly due to Western sanctions over its controversial nuclear program and dwindling of international investment.." .