Iran is set to double natural gas exports to the Iraqi capital Baghdad in June, as part of a plan formulated between the two sides last year, a senior energy official said.
"As per the agreement, gas exports to the neighboring country's capital initially averaged 6 million cubic meters per day … The amount currently stands at 8.5-9 mcm/d and will reach 14 mcm/d next month," Behzad Babazadeh, the National Iranian Gas Company's director for international affairs, was also quoted as saying by IRNA on Saturday.
"Gas exports to Baghdad are progressing well and expected to reach the final volume of 30-35 mcm/d," he added.
Baghdad started taking in Iranian gas on 21 June 2017under an agreement signed by the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity. The agreement was signed in 2013 and originally scheduled for a mid-2014 launch, but faced repeated delays over the volatile security situation in Iraq.
Iran-Iraq gas export contract is currently a six-year deal, but it can be extended.
Gas is transferred to Iraq from Naftshahr in Kermanshah Province through a pipeline diverging from the Sixth Iran Gas Trunkline (IGAT-6).
IGAT-6 is a major component of the national gas grid that, according to NIGC's CEO Hamidreza Araqi, will have the capacity to transfer 110 million cubic meters of gas per day from South Pars Gas Field in the Persian Gulf to southern and western regions.
--- Exports to Basra
Iraq's second largest city Basra is also set to receive gas from Iran via another pipeline.
Babazadeh said the infrastructure to send gas to Basra is in place, but the plan's implementation awaits the contractor of Iraqi infrastructure and Ministry of Electricity to resolve their problems.
Basra needs Iranian gas to feed its power plant as part of efforts to reduce outages that have turned into a persistent source of public discontent and exports will commence soon.
According to Araqi, Iran's gas export to Iraq will reach 50 mcm/d this year, 25 mcm/d for each of the two cities.
"If the goal is achieved, Iraq will become the biggest importer of Iranian gas by overtaking Turkey," he said.
Turkey's gas imports from Iran currently stand at 30 mcm/d.
Araqi noted that Iran's gas output amounts to 230 billion cubic meters per annum, which will rise to 290 bcm by March 2019.
Iran is a regional energy hub active in gas and oil deals and swaps. The country holds 34 trillion cubic meters of natural gas reserves, the largest in the world ahead of Russia with 32.6 trillion cubic meters, according to BP estimates.
