Iranian gas supplies to Iraq fall dramatically
A decline in Iranian natural gas shipments to neighbouring Iraq has led to reductions in the national power system, the government in Baghdad said September 1.
Referencing statements made by the Iraqi electricity ministry, the Reuters news service reported that Iranian gas supplies to central and southern Iraqi provinces declined from 48mn m3/d to 8mn m3/d.
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That resulted in a 5,500 MW loss to the national power system. The loss, meanwhile, comes despite US waivers on sanctions targetting the Iranian energy sector, relief that allows for Iranian gas deliveries to its western neighbour.
The government in Baghdad added that it reached out to Tehran for an explanation about the outages.
From Tehran, state-run broadcaster Press TV reported that the nominee for oil minister, Javad Owji, vowed to increase natural gas production, drawing on the vast reserves in the South Pars gas field.
Iran in May awarded a $1.78bn contract to a state-owned subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) to develop the Farzad-B gas field in the Persian Gulf.
The NIOC estimates the field's reserves at 651bn m3 of in-place gas and 115mn barrels of condensate. Its production will be processed at facilities at South Pars.