Iran resumes gas exports to Turkey

TEHRAN, June 23 (UPI) -- Iran resumed gas shipments to Turkey through a 1,600-mile pipeline following maintenance to repair cracks in the line.

Repairs on the 1,600-mile Iran-Turkey pipeline began June 15 to fix what were described as natural cracks in the line. The pipeline, commissioned in 2001, has witnessed intermittent disruptions in the past due to cuts from external suppliers and attacks on the line by Kurdish separatists.

Gas transits through the pipeline commenced Monday at a rate of 350 million cubic feet per day, with levels expected to reach the normal level of 1.1 trillion cubic feet within the next few days, the Iranian Petroenergy Information Network reports.

The route runs from facilities in northwest Iran to the Turkish capital, Ankara.

Iran is struggling to improve its energy infrastructure in an effort to boost its position as a transit nation. Tehran has lobbied for a position in the $10.7 billion Nabucco pipeline for Europe and reached recent agreements with Pakistan for the long-delayed Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline from the South Pars gas field.