Iran and Turkey Resign Gas Agreement

Turkish Energy Minister Zeki Cakan and his Iranian counterpart Bijan Namdar Zanganeh told reporters they were satisfied with the results of the agreement, but did not say whether they had reached any new deal on prices.

"It is not supposed yet to announce the price of gas," Zanganeh told Iranian news agency IRNA when asked whether the two sides agreed over Turkey's demand for a discount.

"Gas does not have an international price and any deal has its own formula in which there is room for any flexibility," the Iranian oil minister added.

Cakan announced last month that his country had halted imports of natural gas from Iran via a pipeline since June 24. Ankara, he added, would resume the flow only if the composition of the gas is brought in line with the contract. Iran rejected Turkish claims that the imported gas was poor in quality, with the oil minister saying the snag had been invoked by Russia's offer of cheaper gas.

Iran and Turkey launched in December a 2,577 - kilometer pipeline, running from the northeastern city of Tabriz to Ankara, which supplies gas from southern Iran near the Gulf.

Under a 30-billion-dollar deal, sealed during the tenure of Turkey's former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, Iran would initially supply three billion cubic meters (105 billion cubic feet) of gas a year and increase it gradually to 10 billion cubic meters (350 billion cubic feet) in 2007.

* QNA: Qatar News Agency passed the story on Oct. 9, 2002