Iran's Caspian National Oil Company CEO Ali Osuli has announced new exploration operations to be undertaken in the Golestan Province near the border with Turkmenistan.

�If these explorations lead to considerable results, the need to import gas from neighbor countries will be obviated,� Osuli stated.
He said that the explorations are 90 percent sure to lead to finding gas resources, Fars news agency reported April 10.

The exploration operations will start in the present Iranian fiscal year (March 21, 2015 to March 20 2016) and since they are not much complicated, the results will come out soon, Osuli asserted.

According to February statistics, Iran is producing 666 mcm/d of raw gas, imports 7.5 bcm/d of gas from Turkmenistan, and exports 10 bcm/d to Turkey.

A January report said Iran imported 38.5 mcm/d of dry gas from Turkmenistan and exported 27 mcm/d to Turkey, registering a trade balance negative by 11.5 mcm/d. Iran increased gas imports from Turkmenistan in the fall.

The Iran imported 6.3 billion cubic meters of gas in 2014.

By Al Bawaba