Iran, Turkey resume gas talks in December

TEHRAN, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- A delegation of Turkish oil executives and government officials plans to hold talks with Tehran in December to continue discussions on gas development.

Iran and Turkey reached a series of preliminary deals in October to exploit the vast natural gas resources in the South Pars field, the largest natural gas complex in the world.

South Pars holds an estimated 450 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, which represents about 47 percent of the total reserves in Iran.

Both countries agreed to fund developments at a refinery in northern Iran as well. The October meeting included discussions on the transit of petroleum products to Europe through a subsidiary in Turkey.

The Turkish delegation is scheduled to hold talks with their Iranian counterparts to develop three phases at the South Pars field, the Fars News Agency reports.

The delegation includes government officials and representatives from TPAO and Turkey's BOTAS Petroleum Pipeline Corp.

Ankara could get around 1.2 trillion cubic feet of gas per year from South Pars under the terms of the deal. Ankara said the gas could go to meet domestic and European demands as Turkey positions itself as a major regional energy hub.