NIGC exporting gas to Iraq as planned
The director of dispatching at the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) said gas export to Iraq is continuing according to the agreement.
Iran is exporting gas to Iraq via two exchange points, added Saeid Aqli, explaining, “Based on the agreement reached between Iran and Iraq two months ago, one of the exchange points was disconnected to undergo a calibration process, and has been now reconnected,” Shana reported.
Calibration is a normal process in gas exports and not limited to the Iran-Iraq contract, pointed out the NIGC official.
A senior Iranian businessman said in July 2023 that the deal between Iran and Iraq to swap Iranian gas and electricity for Iraqi crude oil and mazut will benefit Iran and remove hurdles created by the United States in energy trade between the two neighboring countries.
“With this agreement with Iraq for barter of oil for gas, the US ability to stonewall (payments) will be restricted, and given Iraq’s situation, the deal can benefit Iran,” said Hamid Hosseini, who serves as the board manager at Iranian Oil, Gas, and Petrochemical Products Exporters Union (OPEX).
Hosseini said that Iran will be able to receive some 30,000 barrels per day (bpd) of heavy grade crude oil and a 70,000 bpd of mazut from Iraq to compensate for a part of its supply of natural gas and electricity to Iraq, which he said is believed to be between $10 million and $15 million per day.
Facing a lower supply of natural gas from Iran to its power plants, Iraq was grappling with extensive power cuts during the scorching heat of early July.
The Arab country finally decided to agree to a long-running proposal from Iran to pay for the country’s natural gas and electricity in crude oil.
The agreement came after repeated US attempts to stonewall the payment of nearly $11 billion worth of funds to Iran that the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity had deposited into accounts in the Trade Bank of Iraq.
The agreement allowed Iran to restore its supply of natural gas to Iraqi power plants to levels agreed between the two countries under a gas export deal.