TEHRAN, May 31 (MNA) – Head of intl. affairs at NIGC, stressing Iran will win the case of gas price dispute with Turkey in the Intl. Court of Justice, said new talks are underway to increase gas exports to Ankara.

Director of international affairs at National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), Azizollah Ramezani, said the primary ruling of the International Court of Justice favored Iran in the gas price dispute with Turkey, and while the date for the second ruling is still undecided, Iran will be the true winner regardless of any results.

He further maintained that a new round of talks between Tehran and Ankara is underway to increase gas exports to Turkey.

Turkey laid a formal complaint against Iran in regard to high price of gas in March 2012. The International Court of Justice ruled against the complaint, however.

In 1996, Tehran and Ankara signed an agreement on gas exports for 25 years which will expire in 2026. Under the 25-year gas agreement, National Iranian Gas Company must export 10 billion cubic meters of gas a year to Turkish Butash Oil and Gas Company. Ankara, however, has ever since imported about 66 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Iran.

Iran is the second major supplier of natural gas to Turkey, after Russia, exporting about 30 percent of the country's needs.

According to Ramezani, Iran is one of the key scenarios for Turkey’s long-term plan for increasing natural gas imports.

By Mehr News Agency