TEHRAN: Iran’s deputy oil minister on Tuesday said his country welcomed Russian partnership in the construction of the ninth cross-country gas pipeline, with 2.5 billion dollars of investment mooted. Deputy minister Hamid Reza Araghi, who is also the managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), touched upon Iran’s plans to develop gas cooperation with Russia in the post Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action era. He pointed out, “At the time being, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Russia respectively possess the two largest natural gas reservoirs in the world.” The official, while recalling that Iran’s policy was to boost collaborations with Russia in gas industry, asserted that a memorandum of understanding had been recently inked for joint cooperation between NIGC and Gazprom. “Output capacity of Iran’s natural gas has mounted to about 700 million cubic meters per day though the figure is expected to hit one billion cubic meters upon implementation of new South Pars phases,” Araghi said, calling for a boost in storage and transmission capacities concurrent with the upsurge in gas production. The NIGC head referred to the plan to increase gas transference capacity via the construction of high-pressure gas pipelines and compression facilities inside the country, saying “one ongoing plan pertains to construction of the ninth nationwide gas pipeline to transport natural gas from south to north of the country.” The official maintained that Russia could join hands with Iran in launching the ninth pipeline of the national gas network, commenting “the project can be also carried out through an EPCF (Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Finance) contract in case necessary permits are issued by the government.” “The volume of required investment for the ninth cross-country gas pipeline is estimated to be approximately 2.5 billion dollars,” Araghi said, reiterating that the Russians could partner in the project though NIGC would give priority to inviting an international tender to this end. The pipeline is projected to transfer 100 Mcm/d of gas towards the north-western borders. The 1,863-kilometers long pipeline has 17 pressure booster stations.