Iran-Iraq-Syria pipeline - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Iranian oil and gas facilities, with the South Pars gas field in red |
| Iran, Iraq, Syria[1] |
| east–west |
| Asalouyeh, Iran |
| Damascus, Syria |
| Natural gas |
| 3,480 mi (5,600 km) |
| 3.9 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day[1] |
| 56 in (1,422 mm) |
The Iran-Iraq-Syria pipeline (called the Friendship Pipeline by the governments involved and the Islamic gas pipeline by some Western sources[2]) is a proposed natural gaspipeline running from the Iranian-Qatari South Pars / North Dome Gas-Condensate field field towards Europe via Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon to supply European customers as well as Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.[1] The pipeline is planned to be 3480 miles long and have a diameter of 56 inches.[1] A previous proposal, known as the Persian Pipeline, had seen a route from Iran's South Pars to Europe via Turkey; it was apparently abandoned after the Swiss energy company Elektrizitätsgesellschaft Laufenburg halted its contract with Iran in October 2010 in the face of pressure over US sanctions against Iran.[3][4]
In July 2011 Iran, Iraq and Syria said they planned to sign a contract potentially worth around $6bn to construct a pipeline running from South Pars towards Europe, via these countries and Lebanon and then under the Mediterranean to a European country, with a refinery and related infrastructure in Damascus.[1][5][6][7] In November 2012 the United States dismissed reports that construction had begun on the pipeline, saying that this had been claimed repeatedly and that "it never seems to materialize."[8] A framework agreement was to be signed in early 2013, with costs now estimated at $10bn;[9] construction plans were delayed by the Syrian civil war.[10] In December 2012 the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies said that the project "remains doubtful. It is not clear how such a project will be financed given that both Iran and Syria are subject to strict financial sanctions."[11]
The pipeline would be a competitor to the Nabucco pipeline from Azerbaijan to Europe.[1] It is also an alternative to the Qatar-Turkey pipeline which had been proposed by Qatar to run from the South Pars field (which Qatar shares with Iran) to Europe via Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and Turkey.[12] Syria's rationale for rejecting the Qatar proposal was said to be "to protect the interests of [its] Russian ally, which is Europe's top supplier of natural gas."[12]
- ^ abcdefUPI, 25 July 2011, 'Islamic pipeline' seeks Euro gas markets
- ^naturalgaseurope.com, 11 February 2013, Some Reasons to Materialize Iran, Iraq, and Syria’s Gas Pipeline
- ^SRF Tagesschau, 29 October 2010, EG Laufenburg legt Gas-Deal mit Iran auf Eis
- ^Jerusalem Post, 26 January 2011, Swiss adopt EU sanctions on Teheran
- ^Mansour Kashfi, Asia Times Online, 7 June 2012, Iran's Islamic pipeline a mad man's dream
- ^Iran, Syria Finalize Agreement on New Gas Pipeline
- ^Wall Street Journal, 25 July 2011, Iraq, Iran, Syria Sign $10 Billion Gas-Pipeline Deal
- ^UPI, 20 November 2012, U.S. brushes off Iran-Iraq-Syria gas line
- ^Agence France-Presse, Hurriyet Daily News, 19 February 2013, Iraq greenlights gas pipeline deal with Iran, Syria
- ^Christian Science Monitor, 27 August 2013, US destroyers near Syria. Oil market likely to shrug off a strike.
- ^Hakim Darbouche, Laura El-Katiri and Bassam Fattouh (2012), Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, East Mediterranean Gas: what kind of a game-changer?, NG17, December 2012, p17
- ^ abNafeez Ahmed, theguardian.com, 30 August 2013, Syria intervention plan fueled by oil interests, not chemical weapon concern