Iran Says Gas Supply to Iraq Flowing Normally

Iranian Oil Ministry authorities say natural Gas Exports to Iraq have continued normally in recent days despite statements made by Iraqi government officials suggesting there has been a major reduction in the supplies.

The state-run National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) said on Monday that gas supplies delivered to Iraq in recent weeks have complied with quantities mentioned in the gas supply contract between the two countries.

Gholamreza Kushki, who leads NIGC’s dispatching operations, said that exports of gas to Iraq are normally carried out via two pipelines in the south and west of Iran, adding that scheduled maintenance on one of the pipelines finished on Sunday after several weeks, allowing repair works to start on the second pipeline on the same day.

“This switching between export terminals during overhaul operations is done with prior notice and is based on the terms of the contract signed between the two sides,” said Kushki. He said that gas exports from Iran to Iraq normally fall in the six months to late March compared to the six months to late September because of demand issues existing in the Arab country.

The remarks came a day after a spokesperson for Iraq’s electricity ministry said that the reduced supply of gas from Iran had caused a major decline in power generation capacity in the capital Baghdad and in areas in the south and center of Iraq.

Ahmed Musa said that Iraq had lost nearly 5,500 gigawatts (GW) of electricity generation capacity due to supply issues from Iran.

Iraq relies on Iran for a significant part of its electricity demand with estimates suggesting that some 25% of a power generation of 27.450 GW in the country directly depends on the gas imported from Iran. The country also imports electricity from Iran to meet its growing demand for energy.

Reports in recent days have shown that Iraq has lost another 3 GW of electricity output because of renovation programs at its power plants. - Press TV, Shana