According to Azerbaijan’s Trend and Iran’s Fars news agencies, PU First Deputy Nazim Samadzade of Azerigas said “It is expected that construction of the new pipeline will begin in 2010.”

Azerigas is one of three state-run companies concerned with the maintenance of Azerbaijan’s energy industry.

The new 200 km pipeline, to be funded by SOCAR, will have a gas transmission capacity of 6.57 Bcm/a. Completion of the pipeline is expected in 2012.

In January this year, SOCAR and the National Iranian Gas Export Company (NIGEC) signed a short-term contract to increase exports of Azerbaijani gas to Iran, requiring a compressor station in Astara to be expanded.

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Under the agreement, Azerbaijan would supply 1.2 MMcm/d of gas to Iran's north regions, until March-April 2010, totalling 100 MMcm over the period.

Azerbaijan and Iran are connected by the 1,474.5 km Kazi – Magomed – Astara gas pipeline, which has a transmission capacity of 10 MMcm/a. The route is a branch of the Gazakh – Astara – Iran pipeline, which was put into operation in 1971 and facilitates the delivery of about 500 MMcm/a.