TEHRAN, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- Iran is ready to start exporting as much as 35 million cubic feet of natural gas to its partners in Switzerland, Iranian energy executives said.
Swiss company Elektrizitaetsgesellschaft Laufenburg signed a 25-year gas deal with the National Iranian Gas Export Co. in 2008.
Seifollah Jashnsaz, the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Co., said his country was ready to move ahead with the gas exports, Iran's Mehr News Agency reports.
"Already Iran is ready to start to its gas exports to this European country based on the contract," he said.
Switzerland is a key European trading partner with Iran. Several trade agreements are outstanding, however.
Jashnsaz said the first phase of the project includes 53 billion cubic feet of gas for Switzerland each year. A second phase targeted for 2011 aims to increase the gas volume to more than 140 billion cubic feet of gas per year.
