Iran to Start Gas Exports to Iraq in 18 Months

Iran will start exports of natural gas supplies to Iraq in the next 18 months, a senior Iranian energy official announced on Wednesday.

Elaborating on the outcomes of a recent visit to Iraq by Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi, Managing-Director of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) Javad Oji said that based on an agreement with Iraqi minister of energy, a daily volume of 25 million cubic meters of natural gas will be supplied to Iraq through the Ilam border in western Iran in a bid to supply fuel for Iraq’s Baghdad and al-Mansoureh power plants.

Oji said that during the visit, senior Iranian and Iraqi officials discussed construction of a new gas pipeline to increase power supplies to Iraq.

The official added that Baghdad officials are keen to use Iranian contractors’ experience in the construction of the Iraqi side of the pipeline which stretches for 270km into the country’s soil.

Managing-Director of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) Ali Reza Zeiqami said Monday that Iran and Iraq had reached an agreement to expand cooperation in developing joint fields, the refining section, and the exports of oil and gas products.

According to the agreement between Iranian and Iraqi officials, Iran will export $1.7 – 1.8 billion of petroleum and Associated Petroleum Gas (APG) products to Iraq per year, Zeiqami said.

He added that petroleum products such as oil, gas, and kerosene would be exported to Iraq by sea via the Mahshahr and Bandar Abbas ports and through three land routes.

Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi had also said on Tuesday that Tehran and Baghdad have reached an agreement on the daily export of 25 million cubic meters of Iran’s gas to Iraq.