NIGC Likely to Export Gas to Iraq

EghtesadOnline: Export of natural gas to Iraq could commence in a week, managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company said in a statement Tuesday.

News ID: ۷۷۶۳۴۶

20 May 2017

“A delegation from the NIGC has traveled to Iraq to hold final talks on gas exports,” Hamidreza Araqi was quoted as saying by ISNA. Araqi said the negotiations were largely focused on working out a payment mechanism for the gas supplies.

Stressing that Iran is ready to start gas delivery to its western neighbor, he said, “If the two sides settle on the financial mechanism, we can start exports in a week.”

According to preliminary agreements, Iran will supply 25 million cubic meters per day of gas to the Arab nation in the first phase. But volumes can increase to 35 mcm/d during the hot season. The contract will be effective for six years, Financial Tribune reported.

A 270-kilometer pipeline stretches from Charmaleh, a village located in the western province of Kermanshah in Iran, to Naft Shahr, a town bordering Iraq and then to power plants in Baghdad.

The war-ravaged country needs Iranian gas to feed three of its power plants—Rumaila, Shatt al-Basra and al-Najibiyah—to counter lengthy outages that have sparked protests against the government in Baghdad and its poor public services in the past few years.