Iraq to Import More Gas From Iran

The Iraqi government approved a deal to import natural gas from Iran to the eastern border province of Diyala, it said in a statement on Tuesday, increasing purchases of the Iranian fuel, which started early this year. Iran began exporting gas to Iraq in June after several years of delays. The neighbors, both members of OPEC, initially signed a deal in 2013 for Iran to supply Iraqi power stations, but officials in the past blamed poor security in Iraq for hampering implementation, Reuters reported. According to the Iranian Gas Transmission Company, gas supply to Iraq amounted to 1.2 billion cubic meters by the middle of last month. Iraq reportedly takes in 12 million cubic meters of gas a day from Iran through the pipeline and has now become Iran's second largest gas customer after Turkey, which imported about 21 mcm/d in 2016, according to the latest BP Statistical Review of World Energy.