Majid Chegeni added the annual swap also grew 530 percent in terms of value.

On the sidelines of ECO Summit in December 2021, Iran, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan struck a deal to swap 1.5 to two billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas to Azerbaijan.

The deal, which was signed after a five-year suspension in Iran-Turkmenistan gas trade, has helped improve sustainable gas flow in northeastern Iran’s gas network and pave the way to turn Iran into an energy hub in the region.

Chegeni, who is also the deputy oil minister, said Iran’s natural gas exports increased 10 and 79 percent in terms of volume and value in the previous year respectively.

According to the NIGC chief , the country’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) during the yearlong period witnessed 32 and 57 percent increases in terms of volume and value respectively.