(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Oji said on Saturday that Iran and Oman have signed the initial contract for the gas transfer but the final contract will be signed by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2012), the official website of the Iranian Oil Ministry.
The official, who is also the managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), said Iran's Seventh Gas Trunkline (IGAT-7) has been constructed up to Iranshahr city in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan, and that it will be extended to the city of Chabahar.
He added that the IGAT-7 would then go toward the Iran-Pakistan border, where another line will transfer the gas to Oman.
Earlier in 2009, Iran and Oman signed a deal to jointly develop an underwater 200-kilometer pipeline to Musandam and Sohar in Oman.
Iran also plans to become a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplier in the world through the production of 70 million tons of LNG by 2015.
Iran is expected to export its first cargo of LNG in 2013.
Iran sits on the world's second-largest natural gas reserves after Russia and has also sought to promote itself as a transit route for oil and gas from Central Asian states.
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