SHANA - Construction of every 1,000 kilometers of 56-inch natural gas pipeline costs over 3 billion dollars, an Iranian gas official says.

Managing director of Engineering and Development of Gas of Iran Hossein Montazer Torbati said the above, adding National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) has devised a plan to lay 1,200 km of gas pipelines every year.

"7 pressure stations must be constructed every year for such length of pipelines which will need between IRR 30 to 40 billion of investment," the official added.

He further said that a part of the funds needed for construction of the projects will be supplied by state resources but the rest will need to be supplied by private investors.

"The private sector developers have displayed great capabilities in this sector in recent years," he said.

Iran has planned to lay 9,000 kilometers of high pressure gas transmission pipelines by 2025.

Once the pipelines are laid, Iran's high pressure gas transmission pipelines will reach 45,000 kilometers from currently 36,000 kilometers