Iraq prepares for “worst-case scenarios” and identifies three alternatives to Iranian gas.
Iraq prepares for “worst-case scenarios” and identifies three alternatives to Iranian gas.
2025-03-13 07:12
Shafaq News/ The Director General of the Fuel Department at the Ministry of Electricity, Saad Jassim, announced on Thursday that preemptive plans have been put in place for what he described as the “worst-case scenarios” that Iraq may face after the interruption of Iranian gas supplies. These plans include importing from Qatar, Oman, and Turkmenistan .
“Previously, we imported only from Iran, but there are government directives and a political will to rely on multiple sources for imports, and we have to take into account the worst-case scenarios. If there is a disruption, we have prepared alternatives, ” Jassim said in statements reported by AFP and translated by Shafaq News Agency.
Jassim added, “In the region, Qatar is the largest producer of natural gas. We have made several visits, and they are ready to help Iraq with preferential prices,” indicating that “the Sultanate of Oman is also an option .”
He pointed out that “negotiations are also underway to purchase gas from Turkmenistan for delivery via pipelines through Iran,” noting that “Iraq is establishing two floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in the Khor al-Zubair region in the south of the country,” expressing his hope that they will be operational by next June .”
The government official explained that “these facilities can be used to process between 14 and 19 million cubic meters (500 to 700 million cubic feet) per day,” adding that “if we are able to establish a third unit, we could reach 800 to 900 million cubic feet,” noting that this would help compensate for the shortage of Iranian gas on which southern Iraq depends .
The waiver granted by the United States to Iraq from sanctions on Iran expired on Saturday, leaving the Baghdad government unable to import Iranian gas needed to power power plants across the country .
A US State Department spokesman said that the Trump administration on Saturday revoked the sanctions waiver that had allowed Iraq to pay for electricity to Iran since 2018, as Washington continues its “maximum pressure” policy on Tehran. However, their much larger cross-border trade is for gas, according to Reuters .
Last Sunday, the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity revealed its preparations for the summer and its plans to compensate for the shortage of Iranian gas following US President Donald Trump’s decision to revoke the waiver granted to Iraq to import gas from Iran .
The ministry’s official spokesman, Ahmed al-Abadi, told Shafaq News Agency that the loss of gas imported from Iran will significantly impact Iraq’s electricity system, meaning the loss of more than 8,000 megawatts. However, the government and the Ministry of Electricity have developed a comprehensive plan to ensure that a supply crisis does not occur next summer .
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