Top energy and foreign affairs officials from Iran and Turkmenistan stressed the need to foster cooperation in the oil and gas sectors as Iran struggles to tackle its worsening gas shortage amid freezing winter temperatures, Shana News Agency reported on February 12.  

Turkman top diplomat Rashid Meredov, who landed in Tehran on 11 February, held talks with Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Iran has been trying to hammer out a larger gas deal with Turkmenistan to meet its growing domestic demand in recent years. However, negotiations have yet to bear fruit, despite Turkmenistan signalling its willingness to boost supplies to its southern neighbour while Iraq and Turkey look to work a deal with Turkmenistan and Iran over their gas swap deals.

Paknejad told Meredov that since Pezeshkian’s government took office in August, improving economic ties with Turkmenistan—particularly in oil and gas—had been a top priority, a stance firmly backed by both nations’ leadership.

Meredov said his visit to Tehran aimed to “put into action the objectives agreed upon by senior officials of both countries.”

He pointed to the long-standing gas trade between the two neighbours, saying Iran had been Turkmenistan’s “second-largest gas trade partner” since its independence in 1991.

An informed source at Iran’s Oil Ministry, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told NewsBase that Tehran was pushing hard to resume gas imports from Turkmenistan to alleviate shortages in its northern provinces, where demand soars during the winter months.

Iran’s oil minister abruptly called off his planned visit today to the southern port city of Assaluyeh—a key hub for Iranian facilities exploiting the world’s largest offshore gas field, South Pars, which Iran shares with Qatar in the Persian Gulf.

Previously, state-controlled energy news agency Shana reported that the cancellation was due to “follow-ups on discussions with the Turkmen delegation,” though no further details were disclosed.

Despite sitting on the world’s second-largest natural gas reserves, Iran has imported Turkmenistan gas since 1997 to help meet northern provinces’ energy needs. Meredov said that Turkmenistan had exported a total of 107bn cubic metres of gas to Iran since the 1990s.

However, despite a swap deal signed in 2021, Turkmenistan insists that Iran owes around $1.8bn in unpaid debts, and gas exports have repeatedly run into trouble.

Back in November, Pezeshkian admitted that Turkmenistan was dragging its feet on resuming exports to Iran, blaming Tehran’s poor payment record.

“Turkmen officials have been complaining that Iran is not paying its debts over gas imports, so they are reluctant to do business with a government that does not pay up,” he said at the time.