Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 7
By Rahim Zamanov - Trend:
Iraq has requested to increase its gas imports from Iran up to 90 million cubic meters per day, the managing director of National Iranian Gas Exports Company said on Dec. 7.
"Iran will start pumping gas to Baghdad in July," Alireza Kameli said, adding that the pipeline's capacity would be 7 million cubic meters per day in the first phase, the IRNA News Agency reported.
"The two sides have agreed to increase the volume of Iran's gas exports to Baghdad to 40 million cubic meters from the current 25 million," he explained.
Kameli went on to note that Iran will start with exporting 25 million cubic meters of gas in 2014 and will increase the figure to 40 million cubic meters in 2015.
"The two sides have also agreed to extend the deal for 10 years," he said.
The deal was previously valid for 4 years.
Iran will also export 50 million cubic meters of gas to Iraqi city of Basra.
It was announced on November 16 that Iran plans to delay exporting gas to Iraq to the next Iranian calendar year (to start March 21, 2014).
The continuous delays in starting gas production at different phases of the South Pars Gas field have affected the country's gas exports negatively, the Tasnim News Agency reported on November 16.
Baghdad has not completed its share of the Iran-Iraq gas pipeline yet, so Tehran can not be blamed for the delay in carrying out the deal.
The managing director of Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company said on November 6 that Tehran will start exporting natural gas to Baghdad by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2014).
"By completion of the first Iran-Iraq pipeline construction, Tehran will have the capacity to export 8 to 10 million cubic of gas per day to neighbouring Iraq," the Mehr News Agency quoted Alireza Gharibi as saying.
"Iran will construct two pipelines to export gas to Iraqi cities of Baghdad and Basra," he explained.
"Construction of the second pipeline will be started as soon as the contract is signed," Gharibi added.
He went on to note that Iran's sixth cross-country gas pipeline will feed the mentioned two pipelines.
Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Hamidreza Araghi said on November 4 that the country plans to export 25 million cubic meters of gas daily to Iraqi city of Basra.
"The contract will be signed in two weeks," the Fars News Agency quoted Araghi as saying.
"The previous administration had already signed a contract to export gas to Baghdad's power plants," he said.
Araghi, also the managing director of National Iranian Gas Company, went on to note that Tehran will export 4 million cubic meters of gas per day to Baghdad's power plants in the first phase, and increase the figure to 25 million cubic meters in the second phase.
Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on October 30 that the country is also looking to sign deals for gas exports to Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
Iran, which owns the world's second largest natural gas reserves after Russia, has been trying to enhance its gas production by increasing foreign and domestic investment, especially in its South Pars Gas Field.