Iraqi Electricity Minister Ziad Ali Fadel announced that the country is negotiating with Tehran to transfer Turkmenistan's gas from Iran's gas transmission lines.
He added: “A delegation from Iraq had already traveled to Turkmenistan and signed a contract to import 20 million cubic meters of gas”.
According to the report of the official Iraqi news agency (WAA), Fadel further added: “The only challenge before us is the lack of connecting lines.” However, we are currently negotiating with the Iranian side to deliver Turkmenistan’s gas to Iraq through Iran’s pipelines. On the other hand, this 20 million cubic meters has been replaced due to gas cut by Iran.
This Iraqi official confirmed that Iran is currently investigating the matter and if it agrees, it is possible for Iraqis to use Turkmen gas next summer.
Regarding the country’s gas debt to Iran, the Iraqi Minister of Electricity also said: “The Ministry of Electricity paid all the gas duties to the Iranian side and deposited them into a special account in the Iraqi Commercial Bank, but the payment process was not completed due to international sanctions. But now Iranian gas is being exchanged with Iraqi black oil based on an agreement between the two sides.”
Iraq’s electricity minister said that the agreement with Iran, which has been implemented for years, is to supply 51 million cubic meters of gas per day, and in case of a reduction in gas imports from Iran, 20 million cubic meters from Turkmenistan can be used.