IRANIAN GAS CUTS LEAD TO IRAQ LOSING 5,000 MEGAWATTS OF ELECTRICITY

Mon 10 July 2023:

5,000 megawatts of electricity were lost in Iraq as a result of Iran’s gas supply restriction, the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity has said, Xinhua reported.

According to the ministry’s spokesman Ahmed Musa, the loss of roughly 5,000 megawatts brought on by the drop in gas imports from Iran and the deficit of 10,000 megawatts due to insufficient domestic gas production have had a negative effect on the supply of power to civilians.

The ministry is trying to coordinate with the Iranian side to re-pump the gas in the required quantities, pending a solution to transfer financial dues to Iran, he added.

Iraq imports gas to feed its power stations across the country from Iran, which occasionally reduces gas supplies over accumulated debts of Iraq.

Last month, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani said the government was implementing plans to invest in its associated gas and natural gas fields to reduce dependence on imports.

In May, Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan Abdul-Ghani said the country’s oil reserves increased by 10 billion barrels and its natural gas reserves by 8 trillion cubic feet after a three-dimensional seismic survey near Basra, a key oil hub located about 550 km south of the capital Baghdad.

The new figures would raise the proven reserves of Iraq’s crude oil to about 155 billion barrels and natural gas to about 140 trillion cubic feet.

It is worth noting that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, of which Iraq is a member, has not officially adopted the new figures yet.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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