Iran to start LNG exports in 2013

TEHRAN,June 26(MNA) - Iran will export the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) consignment in 2013, said Deputy Oil Minister Mohsen Khojastemehr. He told that LNG exports will amount to 10 million tons per year. Iran will start early production of LNG at the Iran LNG Plant in southern Assalouyeh region within the next two years in a bid to give a boost to its LNG output and exports, managing director of Iran LNG Company, Ali Kheirandish said in January. Some $1.5 billion has been allocated to the project, he told the Mehr News Agency, adding that the project is aimed to produce 10.8 million tons of LNG per year. Exporting the product will earn the country up to $20 million per day. In October 2011, Kheirandish told that Iran plans to export 30 percent of its LNG output to Europe. China and India will be the two major markets for Iranian LNG in the long run, he added.