Preliminary tests have started on 50 kilometers of the Iranian section of a pipeline which has been built to carry natural gas from southern Iran to neighboring Iraq, managing director of Iran Gas Engineering and Development Company, Ali-Reza Gharibi said.
Ali-Reza Gharibi added that the next test will be carried out over the remaining 47 kilometers of the pipeline in the near future, according to a statement by Iran’s NIGC.
Gas exports to Iraq will accordingly start once the final test over the remaining part of the pipeline is carried out.
Gharibi also said the 97-kilometer pipeline stretches from Charmaleh in Iran’s Ilam province and ends in the border city of Naftshahr.
Iran’s gas exports to Baghdad will start with a daily volume of 4 million cubic meters (MMcm) which could increase to 40 MMcm/d during warm seasons.