Caretaker oil minister said Sunday that an agreement with Russia to exchange natural gas is essentially finalized and that technical work to carry it out is advancing.
Hamid Bovard spoke after arriving at Moscow for the eighth leaders' summit and 28th ministerial meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum. He said talks on expanding oil and gas cooperation with Russia would continue on the sidelines of the gathering.
Bovard said general agreements on a gas swap were reached when the Iranian and Russian presidents met in Turkmenistan. "The technical stages of implementing this agreement are being pursued, and the agreement is almost final," he said.
He said he hopes a pipeline plan the Russian side is pursuing through Azerbaijan will be completed, making a swap possible "in the near future."
Bovard said Russian companies are taking part in developing four of Iran's large oil fields and that those contracts are progressing well. He said Iran will discuss joint oil and gas projects with Russian counterparts in Moscow and wants to expand economic cooperation, especially in oil and gas.
Iran is a founding member of the forum, Bovard said, and will hold talks with other members on expanding energy cooperation, particularly in gas. He said Tehran will also use the summit to state its positions on international developments, including what he called U.S. crimes related to the war and damage to Iran's energy infrastructure. He said Iran is also seeking closer coordination with other gas-producing countries.
The ministerial meeting is scheduled for Monday and the leaders' summit for Tuesday.
The forum holds leaders' summits every two years. The first was in Doha, Qatar, in 2011, followed by Moscow in 2013, Tehran in 2015, Santa Cruz, Bolivia, in 2017, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, in 2019, Doha in 2022 and Algiers in 2024. It has held 27 ministerial meetings.
The forum has 12 full members: Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. Angola, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Malaysia, Mauritania, Mozambique, Peru and Senegal are observers.
Members together hold about 70% of the world's proven natural gas reserves, 38% of commercial gas production and 42% of gas exports, according to figures cited by the forum. Their share of global LNG exports is estimated at about 47%.