Natural gas from Iran exported to Europe

Dubai: Iran reached a $10 billion (Dh36.7 billion) agreement with Iraq and Syria to allow the transit of natural gas from Iran's South Pars field to Europe via Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea, official state media reported.

Iranian, Iraqi and Syrian oil ministers signed the agreement yesterday, state-run IRIB News reported, citing remarks by Javad Owji, managing director of National Iranian Gas Co.

The gas is to pass through a 5,000-kilometre pipeline to Greece and elsewhere in Europe, state-controlled Press TV reported yesterday on its website.

Construction will be completed in three to five years, Owji said, according to IRIB. The reports gave no breakdown or details of the $10 billion in planned investment.

Iran had 29.6 trillion cubic metres in proved gas reserves, the world's second-biggest after Russia, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy June 2011.

While the government is seeking to attract foreign investment to develop the gas, the US, European Union and United Nations have imposed sanctions against the country over its nuclear energy programme.