TEHRAN - Iraq’s Electricity Ministry spokesman Ahmed Musa says the Arab country still needs to import natural gas from Iran because its plan to locally provide fuel for its power plants has not been completed yet.
Ahmed Musa said several Iraqi delegations will travel to Tehran to discuss increasing gas exports which have reportedly been cut to eight million cubic meters a day from 50 million cubic meters.
“Negotiations with the Iranian ambassador in Baghdad and the Iranian ministry of energy regarding the increase of gas imports from Iran are ongoing,” Baghdad al-Yawm news agency quoted him as saying Sunday.
Despite its position as a major oil producer, Iraq relies on Iran for natural gas that generates as much as 45 percent of its 14,000 megawatts of electricity consumed daily. Iran transmits another 1,000 megawatts directly, making itself an indispensable energy source for its Arab neighbor.
Earlier this month, the United States granted Iraq a 120-day extension to a sanctions waiver allowing Baghdad to continue energy imports.
Musa recently claimed that Iran was slashing the gas flow, while the electricity transmission line had totally been cut off over Iraq’s outstanding debt to the Islamic Republic.
The exact amount of the Iraqi debt is not known. In the past, Iranian officials have said between $6 billion and $7 billion of Iranian funds are held in the Arab country.
Iraq has paid some of its debts over the years, but U.S. sanctions and economic troubles in the Arab country have made the transfer of money much slower than Iran expected.
Iraq imports a wide range of goods from Iran, including food, agricultural products, home appliances, air conditioners and car parts.
Official customs data released last week showed Iran’s exports to Iraq in the past eight months increased by 40 percent compared to the same period last year, making it the second importer of Iranian goods.