Iraq plans to import Turkmen gas via Iran in swap deal
Iraq may buy up to 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year from Turkmenistan following talks between officials of both countries held in Baghdad in recent days.
Turkmengas Chairman Maksat Babayev led a delegation to Baghdad over October 5–8 and held detailed negotiations with Iraq’s Minister of Electricity Ziad Ali Fadel to supply Iraq with gas from Turkmenistan under a swap arrangement through neighboring Iran, Platts reported, citing a statement from the Turkmenistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On October 6, Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity signed a memorandum of understanding to import natural gas from Turkmenistan during Turkmenistan’s Minister of State visit to Baghdad, but details of the volume of gas were not provided.
An Iraqi delegation will visit Turkmenistan on October 25 to sign a supply contract to import natural gas from the central Asian country, the Iraqi prime minister’s office said on Saturday.
Babayev is scheduled to attend the Oil and Gas of Turkmenistan forum in Ashgabat from October 25–27, where more talks will be held.
Iraq has been importing around 1.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from Iran through two pipelines. Supply has been inconsistent given difficulties in transferring costs in US dollars to Iran because of US sanctions and increased domestic demand during summer.