Iranian and Syrian oil ministers said in January their countries planned to build a gas pipeline with the cooperation of Iraq to widen export options for regional energy players but that the pipeline was still at the idea stage.

“A trilateral agreement between the three countries on the transit of gas has been reached ... The first official contract is ready to be signed soon,” Javad Oji, head of the National Iranian Gas Co. (NIGC), was quoted as saying.

“We plan to transit gas from the South Pars field through Iraq, Syrian and then Lebanon to the Mediterranean area and Europe,” Oji added.

Oji said up to $6 billion was needed to build the 56-inch pipeline and that it would have the capacity to transfer 110 million cubic meters of gas per day.

The South Pars gas field, shared with Qatar, makes up the world’s largest pure gas reserve.

An official said recently that Iran’s gas output would rise to 700 million cubic meters per day by March 2012.

While Iran holds the world’s second-largest gas reserves, it currently has no major net exports, partly due to international sanctions.

Western firms with the expertise and technology have become increasingly wary of investing in Iran due to a long-running international dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program, which the US and its allies suspect is aimed at making bombs. Tehran denies this.