Iraq on Friday signed an initial agreement with Turkmenistan to import much-needed gas for the country's insufficient and dilapidated electricity grid, officials said.
"Iraq and Turkmenistan signed a memorandum of understanding on Friday to provide Turkmen gas to the country, as part of the government's program to diversify its energy sources to ensure a stable and sustainable power supply," a statement from Baghdad's electricity ministry said.
Iraq's Minister of Electricity Ziad Fadel clarified that "the pipelines of the Islamic Republic of Iran, connected to Iraqi transport pipelines, will be used to reach the power plants" in Iraq.
The "preliminary agreement" is to import approximately 25 million cubic metres of gas per day, a ministry official told AFP, without specifying the degree to which that will address Iraq's needs.
"It is a memorandum of understanding to expand the horizons of cooperation," the official said, declining to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
"The gas will be transported via Iranian pipelines, which will also require negotiations with the Iranian and Turkmen parties."