TEHRAN – Iran deputy oil minister Majid Chegeni said that the country has exported about 52 billion cubic meters of natural gas, valued at $15 billion, to Iraq since 2017 under two contracts.
Iran has exported about 52 billion cubic meters of gas, valued at $15 billion, to Iraq in more than six years within the framework of two contracts signed in Baghdad (July 2017) and Basra (June 2018), Chegeni said on the sidelines of an event, held in Baghdad, on the extension of the contract.
He noted that after the expiry of the two gas contracts signed in Baghdad and Basra, several rounds of expert-level talks were held in Tehran and Baghdad to extend the gas exports to Iraq.
In comments at the signing ceremony, Iraq’s Minister of Electricity Ziad Ali Fadel said his country will continue to import gas from Iran within the next five years.
He noted that Iraq’s power plants heavily need Iranian gas for the generation of electricity.
Iran is a reliable economic partner for Iraq and has met its needs for gas in tough conditions, the Iraqi minister added.
Iraq needs 35,000 megawatts of electricity every day, but its daily output stands at 20,000 megawatts. A third of Iraq’s electricity is generated by the gas imported from Iran.