Iran to start gas exports to Iraq in spring

Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 12 By Rahim Zamanov - Trend: Iran will start exporting gas to Iraq in the first few months of the next Iranian calendar year (to start on March 21), Iranian Fars News Agency reported. Once the pipeline is ready, Tehran will start exporting seven million cubic meters of gas per day to Baghdad. The figure will reach 40 million cubic meters in the first phases. Iran was only supposed to export 25 million cubic meters of gas per day to its southwestern neighbor in the first phase. Iranian gas is expected to account for 30-35 percent and 65-70 percent of Iraqi households and power plants' gas consumption, respectively. The managing director of National Iranian Gas Exports Company Alireza Kameli said on Dec. 7 that Iraq has requested to increase its gas imports from Iran up to 90 million cubic meters per day, the IRNA News Agency reported. "The two sides have agreed to increase the volume of Iran's gas exports to Baghdad to 40 million cubic meters from the current 25 million," he explained. Kameli went on to note that Iran will start with exporting 25 million cubic meters of gas in 2014 and will increase the figure to 40 million cubic meters in 2015. "The two sides have also agreed to extend the deal for ten years," he said. The deal was previously valid for four years. Iran will also export 50 million cubic meters of gas to Iraqi city of Basra. It was announced on Nov.16 that Iran plans to delay exporting gas to Iraq to the next Iranian calendar year (to start March 21, 2014). The continuous delays in starting gas production at different phases of the South Pars Gas field have affected the country's gas exports negatively, the Tasnim News Agency reported on Nov. 16. Baghdad has not completed its share of the Iran-Iraq gas pipeline yet, so Tehran cannot be blamed for the delay in carrying out the deal. Iran plans to construct two pipelines to export gas to the Iraqi cities of Baghdad and Basra. Iran's sixth cross-country gas pipeline will feed the mentioned two pipelines. Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Oct. 30 that the country is also looking to sign deals for gas exports to Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Follow us on Twitter @TRENDNewsAgency