TEHRAN - The Iraqi Minister of Electricity says Baghdad is negotiating with Tehran to use Iran's wide and nationwide lines to transport Turkmenistan's gas

Referring to the challenge in connecting lines transporting gas from Turkmenistan to Iraq only through the Iranian network, he explained, "We are negotiating with the Iranian side to use their network to transport these quantities, as these 20 million from Turkmenistan will provide continuous Turkmenistan next summer," according to Iraqi press.

He added that "the agreement with Iran, which has been in place for years, provides for supplying Iraq with 51 million M3 per day, and this amount covers our need if the flow is stabilized by them, and the 20 million M3 from Turkmenistan can be used when reducing the flow from the Iranian side".

He pointed out that "the Ministry of Electricity paid all gas dues to the Iranian side and downloaded them to a special account at the Iraqi Trade Bank, but due to international sanctions, the payment process was not completed and now the gas is being exchanged for Iraqi black oil according to an agreement that was made and is being carried out smoothly”.

" the Iranian side has reduced the quantities of gas flowing in winter, especially in the last two months, and it was not possible due to the cold weather and the internal need for double quantities, as well as the maintenance of pipelines ", adding that "the ministry hopes for the return of natural flows with the entry of the holy month of Ramadan, which will result in a clear improvement in processing hours,” the official said.

Iran has already reached a similar agreement with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to swap gas through its territory.

The agreement between Iran, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan on a natural gas swap deal for up to two billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas took effect as of January 1, 2022.

Later in June 2022, Iran inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Azerbaijan to double the amount of natural gas the country was going to swap with Turkmenistan.

The MOU was signed by Iranian Oil Minister Javad Oji and Azerbaijan’s Economy Minister Mikayil Chingiz Oghlu Jabbarov on Friday.

Speaking to the press on the sidelines of a visit to Azerbaijan, Oji underlined the expansion of relations with Azerbaijan, saying: “The gas swap contract [that the two countries have signed recently] has provided the ground for cooperation in other sectors including transportation, power, trade and such areas.”

EF/