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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraq will be entirely self-reliant for its domestic gas needs within five years time, the country’s oil minister told state media late Sunday, despite currently importing the vast majority of the resource from neighboring Iran.
“We [Iraq] will not import gas by 2025,” Ihsan Abdul-Jabar, Iraqi oil minister told al-Iraqia TV in a televised interview. “At least 80 percent of the [needed] gas projects in Iraq are under implementation already.”
At present, Iraq imports the majority of its required electricity and natural gas from Iran, unable to meet its own needs.
The minister predicts Baghdad will ease its energy dependency by putting a stop to gas flaring, an efficient, but wasteful common practice in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. He says the country can quit burning off its own resources by 2025.
Iraq has suffered chronic electricity shortages since the 1990s. War, sanctions, and corruption prevented the oil-rich country from keeping pace with rapid population growth. Prolonged blackouts regularly spark urban unrest.
Iraq's finance minister, Ali Allawi said during an online interview with the Atlantic Council on Friday that Iraq will significantly reduce its heavy reliance on Iranian energy imports as soon as next year.
Abdul-Jabar accompanied Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on his recent visit to Washington DC for the second round of US-Iraq strategic dialogue, during which a number of oil and energy agreements were signed. Among them was an agreement with US energy giant Chevron, which Abdul-Jabar says will put "Iraq at the forefront of countries that produce energy."
The US, which has re-imposed sanctions on Iran since 2018, has granted Baghdad several waivers to continue imports of Iranian energy without penalty. However, Washington ultimately expects Iraq to gradually reduce its reliance on Iranian gas and electricity imports.
The current waiver, Iraq’s ninth, issued in May, gives the country 120 days to continue its energy imports without financial penalties for the trade. It is set to expire next month.
Iran exports 1200-1500 megawatts of electricity to Iraq on a daily basis, in addition to 38 million cubic meters of natural gas to feed several of Iraq’s power stations, according to Sayyid Hamid Hosseini, secretary general of Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce. In June, Baghdad and Tehran signed a two-year contract to continue the imports.
Iraq has also signed deals with German giant Siemens and American General Electric to overhaul its outdated electricity grid.
“We [Iraq] will not import gas by 2025,” Ihsan Abdul-Jabar, Iraqi oil minister told al-Iraqia TV in a televised interview. “At least 80 percent of the [needed] gas projects in Iraq are under implementation already.”
At present, Iraq imports the majority of its required electricity and natural gas from Iran, unable to meet its own needs.
The minister predicts Baghdad will ease its energy dependency by putting a stop to gas flaring, an efficient, but wasteful common practice in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. He says the country can quit burning off its own resources by 2025.
Iraq has suffered chronic electricity shortages since the 1990s. War, sanctions, and corruption prevented the oil-rich country from keeping pace with rapid population growth. Prolonged blackouts regularly spark urban unrest.
Iraq's finance minister, Ali Allawi said during an online interview with the Atlantic Council on Friday that Iraq will significantly reduce its heavy reliance on Iranian energy imports as soon as next year.
Abdul-Jabar accompanied Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on his recent visit to Washington DC for the second round of US-Iraq strategic dialogue, during which a number of oil and energy agreements were signed. Among them was an agreement with US energy giant Chevron, which Abdul-Jabar says will put "Iraq at the forefront of countries that produce energy."
The US, which has re-imposed sanctions on Iran since 2018, has granted Baghdad several waivers to continue imports of Iranian energy without penalty. However, Washington ultimately expects Iraq to gradually reduce its reliance on Iranian gas and electricity imports.
The current waiver, Iraq’s ninth, issued in May, gives the country 120 days to continue its energy imports without financial penalties for the trade. It is set to expire next month.
Iran exports 1200-1500 megawatts of electricity to Iraq on a daily basis, in addition to 38 million cubic meters of natural gas to feed several of Iraq’s power stations, according to Sayyid Hamid Hosseini, secretary general of Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce. In June, Baghdad and Tehran signed a two-year contract to continue the imports.
Iraq has also signed deals with German giant Siemens and American General Electric to overhaul its outdated electricity grid.
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