"An agreement to the same effect had been signed in South Korea’s Busan last week and that work over the construction of the first mini-LNG plants could begin within next four years," R&D Director of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) Saeed Pakseresht said.
"We do not have the technology to develop mini-LNG plants, but joining hands with companies like Oceanus consortium and KOGAS (South Korean's public natural gas company) is an important first step to develop our LNG sector," he added.
The Korean companies involved in the project are Oceanus, Kitech Institute of Industrial Technology and Korea Gas Technology Company.
The Iranian parties involved are the NIGC, the LNG Institute of Tehran University and the Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI).
In a relevant development in mid-June, media reports said that South Korean financial officials were in talks with their Iranian counterparts to open a 13-billion-dollar credit line for investment in Iran.
"Korea Eximbank (KEXIM) will provide the lion share of $8 billion of funds to Iran. The rest of the funds $5 billion will be provided by Korea Trade Insurance Corporation in the coming weeks," the Persian-language Sharq newspaper reported.
It said that Iranian Economy Minister Ali Tayyebnia will travel to Seoul soon to finalize the procedures for Iran to receive the loan.
Iran and South Korea have also agreed on the construction of a hospital.
The allocation of the $13-billion credit line by South Korea to Iran would open the way for Japanese and European banks to do the same with the country.
