Javad Oji, Managing Director of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), told a press conference in Tehran on 31 January that the company plans to invest up to $9bn on the construction of high pressure gas pipelines during the government’s new five year development plan (MEES, 18 January). NIGC intends to finance the construction of approximately 6,000km of high-pressure pipeline and 22 gas-metering stations by 2015. Mr Oji said that NIGC’s priorities over the 2010-15 period include the construction of the IGAT-6 trunkline from the Aghajari area into Ilam, Kermanshah and West Azerbaijan provinces, the extension of IGAT-7 to the cities of Zahedan and Chabahar, and the completion of the Bidboland 2 gas processing plant. He said NIGC had requested an allocation of $6.8bn in the next Iranian budget.