Iran To Start Gas Export To Iraq Next Year

Tehran, May 19, IRNA – Iran plans to start gas export to Iraq in the next Iranian calendar year (to start March 21, 2015), Deputy Oil Minister Ali Majedi said on Monday. Talking to IRNA, he noted that Iran and Iraq are committed to complete the joint gas pipeline within the current Iranian calendar year (started March 21, 2014). Some 80km of the 100-km-long gas pipeline to Iraq has been completed. The gas pipeline starts from Chahar Meleh village in the Western province of Ilam and ends in Naft Shahr close to Iran-Iraq joint border. After the completion of the project, Iran can export five million cubic meters of natural gas to Iraq in the first phase and the figure will reach 10mcm in the next stages. On July 21, 2013, Iranian and Iraqi oil ministers signed the first deal to transfer Iranˈs natural gas to two Iraqi power plants. The project is aimed at supplying Al-Baghdad and Al-Mansouriyah power plants in Iraq with 25 million cubic meters of natural gas per day. Despite being one of the largest exporters of oil, Iraq needs Iran to meet the shortage of natural gas./end