ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s electricity ministry on Friday said that Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani had “positive” discussions with the Iranian side regarding the resumption of suspended gas exports.
“The negotiations during the visit of the government delegation headed by the prime minister and accompanied by the electricity minister to Tehran were positive, and we were promised that gas releases would resume pumping once the maintenance work was completed,” ministry spokesperson Ahmed Musa told Rudaw.
Sudani visited Tehran earlier this month.
Iran halted gas exports to Iraq in November, saying it needed to carry out maintenance and repairs. The stoppage was supposed to last 15 days.
Resumption of the exports have been delayed as Iran faces an internal energy shortage that has forced Tehran to impose two-hour daily electricity cuts. The government has also cut off electricity for factories and industrial areas 14 hours a day.
Iraq’s national grid has depended on gas exports from Iran for years. When the national grid cuts out, customers turn to costly, environmentally damaging private generators.
Musa said that Sudani has decided to purchase gas from the Khor Mor field in Sulaimani’s Chamchamal district, operated by UAE-based Dana Gas, “at a value of 100 cubic meters” to ease power shortages in Kirkuk province.
“It is possible to benefit from this gas to operate Kirkuk province stations and arrange the electricity situation there,” he said.
Iraq is also working to diversify its energy sources and reduce dependence on gas and fossil fuels through solar energy projects to maneuver around the gas shortages, according to Musa.
In June of last year, Iraq’s national investment commission signed an investment licence with French energy conglomerate TotalEnergies to develop a power plant with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts for the south of the country. The plant reportedly would supply clean energy for approximately 350,000 houses.
Sudani has repeatedly described improving the country’s energy sector as one of his cabinet's main priorities, stating on multiple occasions that Baghdad seeks to achieve self-sufficiency in gas and end its imports.
Mushtaq Ramadhan contributed to this report.
