Iraq Dependent on Iran’s Gas Import for Generating Electricity: Minister
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iraq’s minister of electricity emphasized that his country heavily needs Iran’s gas for the generation of electricity in sweltering days of summer.
Ziad Ali Fazel on Tuesday said the gas in Iraq is not sufficient to meet its demands for generating electricity in the country.
He put the current production volume of gas in southern Iraq at about 900 million cubic feet.
This is while 300 million cubic/feet of gas is produced in northern Iraq and these amounts are not sufficient to meet the demand, Fazel stressed.
Iraq is in dire need of 40,000-megawatt of electricity to achieve stability in electricity supply, he said, adding that 26,000 megawatts of electricity is produced relying on imported gas.
The Iraqi minister went on to say that the capacity of generating electricity in summer strictly hinges on the import of Iranian gas, adding that Iraq will achieve self-sufficiency after the completion of a plan for investing in the gas sector.
Iran and Iraq have concluded two gas contracts with the capacity of transferring 60 million cubic meters/day. After the Iranian gas money was blocked at the Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI), Iran’s gas exports to the neighboring country decreased but later with the bartering of Iranian gas with Iraqi oil, Tehran resumed the gas exports to the Arab country at the previous levels.