Iran has agreed to export its natural gas to Iraq and Syria in the next three to five years and possibly to Lebanon and Europe in the future

Iran has agreed to export its natural gas to Iraq and Syria in the next three to five years and possibly to Lebanon and Europe in the future, says Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi.

The two countries inked with Iran on Monday a Memorandum of Understanding for the construction of pipelines.

"The overall cost of the project is estimated around $10 billion," deputy oil minister and chairman of the Iranian National Gas Company (NIGC), Javad Ouji, was quoted by the Mehr news agency as saying after the signing ceremony.
  
The construction of pipelines stretching for several thousand kilometers (miles) "should take three to five years once funding is secured," according to an estimate by Ouji on Sunday. The MoU was signed in the southern Iranian port of Assalouyeh, the nation's gas hub, by Iraqi Oil Minister Abdelkarim al-Luaybi, his Syrian counterpart Sufian Allaw and Iran's oil ministry caretaker Mohammad Aliabadi, media reported.
  
According to Mehr, the document envisages setting up within a month three working groups to look respectively at the technical, financial and legal aspects of the project, which has been under discussion since 2008. "Soon the feasibility studies will be given to an international consultant," Ouji said without detailing any timetable.
  
The Iranian official had on Sunday said he hoped the final agreement launching the project could be signed before the end of the year.

Iran, which has the world's second largest natural gas reserves after Russia, is the second largest oil producer of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.