Bilateral trade: Iran and Bahrain sign gas agreement

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has signed a memorandum of understanding to export natural gas to Bahrain.

'Iran will provide one million cubic feet per day of natural gas, and the details are expected to be finalised within a year before signing a deal on this strategic project,' said Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa.

Shaikh Khalid said that 'a new page of relations based on optimism has now been opened' with Iran.

Oil and Gas Affairs Minister and National Oil and Gas Authority chairman Dr Abdulhussain Mirza said that the agreement provides for the future supply of one billion cubic feet per day of Iranian natural gas to Bahrain.

Dr Mirza said negotiations about the supply of the gas should be completed within a year and it would take three years to build the pipelines that will carry it.