Iranian Gas Delegation to Visit Iraq
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An Iranian gas delegation is due to visit Iraq in the coming days in a bid to negotiate mechanisms for exporting natural gas to Baghdad and Basra, a senior Iranian gas official announced on Saturday.
Head of National Iranian Gas Export Company (NIGEC) Alireza Kameli said the delegation will visit the Arab country in the coming days to discuss how to implement the contract for gas exports to Baghdad due to be started early in the next Iranian calendar year (starts on March 21, 2015).
The visit is aimed at resolving the security problems and the way to implement the details of the contract given the fact that the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist group has created problems for the gas facilities near Baghdad, Kameli told Shana.
Kamali further noted that the delegation will also try to finalize the contract for gas exports to Basra, south of Iraq.
He stressed that Iran will start pumping 5 million cubic meters (mcm) per day of gas to Basra and will increase it to 30 mcm per day.
Earlier last month, the director of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) for international affairs announced that Tehran plans to begin supplying natural gas to neighboring Iraq on a regular basis by May 2015.
Azizollah Ramezani stated that currently, about six to seven kilometers of the pipeline supplying Iraq with Iranian natural gas has yet to be laid on the Iraqi side of the border.
Back in July 2013, Iranian and Iraqi oil ministers signed the first deal to transfer natural gas from Iran to Iraq.
