Iran to Start Gas Export to Iraq Next Spring: Official
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An Iranian energy official said the country will start supplying natural gas to neighboring Iraq on a regular basis as early as spring 2015.
Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency, Managing-Director of National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) Hamid-Reza Araqi said Iran will transfer gas to Iraq before the wintertime to let the Iraqi power plants prepare for a continuous inflow of natural gas in the spring of next year.
He also made clear that another reason behind such a scheduled delay is that Iran’s domestic consumption of gas during the cold season is given priority over the exports.
His comments came after Deputy Oil Minister for International and Commercial Affairs Ali Majedi announced in May that under a finalized deal, Iran’s gas exports to Iraq will start this Iranian year (March 21, 2014 - March 20, 2015).
Iranian and Iraqi oil ministers on July 21, 2013, signed the first deal to transfer Iran’s natural gas to two Iraqi power plants.
The project is aimed at supplying Al-Baghdad and Al-Mansouriyah power plants in Iraq with 25 million cubic meters (mcm) per day of natural gas.
Iran, which has the largest gas reserves in the world, seeks to enhance gas production by increasing foreign and domestic investments.
In its Statistical Review of World Energy released in June last year, the BP classed Iran as the world’s top gas reserves holder with 33.6 trillion cubic meters.
The company downgraded Russia’s reserves estimate to 32.9 trillion cubic meters from 44.6 trillion cubic meters in its earlier report, putting global proven gas reserves at 187.3 trillion cubic meters as of the end of 2012.
