Iran to complete gas export pipeline to Iraq by next 4 months: Iranianofficial

TEHRAN,Apr.23(MNA)- Iran will complete the construction of a 100-kilometer pipeline which is intended to transfer natural gas to Iraq by the next four months, the managing director of the Iranian Gas Engineering Development Company stated. The pipeline is now 75 percent complete, the Tasnim News Agency quoted Alireza Gharibi as saying on Tuesday. The Iraq section of the pipeline is also being built according to schedule, he added. The 100-kilometer pipeline extends from Ilam Province, west of Iran, to the border city of Naftshahr, the official stated. The pipeline is projected to transfer 5 million cubic meters (mcm) of natural gas per day in the first stage and 10 million cubic meters per day in the second stage, he added. On July 2, 2013, Iran signed an agreement with Iraq to deliver 25 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas per day to Sadr, Baghdad and al-Mansouryah power plants through a pipeline. The 270-kilometer pipeline is estimated to earn Iran $3.7 billion a year in revenues. The pipeline will stretch from Assaluyeh, near the massive offshore South Pars oil and gas field in southern Iran, and will continue into neighboring Iraq to feed Iraqi power plants running on gas.