Baghdad / private :
Iraq's attempts to become independent from Iranian gas continue to cause concern in the Iranian business and political circles, which do not imagine that the historical neighbor will move away from it even after a while.
Iraq entered into recent US talks aimed at enabling it to exploit its natural resources away from Iran in the long term, which angered some Iranian businessmen, according to the local Press tv station (press tv).
The adviser to the Iraqi Prime Minister, Imad al-alak, announced his country's entry into serious discussions with American experts in order to help exploit the associated gas and produce electricity, which may enable Baghdad to become independent from Iranian gas, as well as electricity imported from Tehran.
6.5 billion dollars wasted
Iraq aspires to benefit from American experience and assistance to avoid wasting 6.5 billion dollars from burning quantities of associated gas up to 18 billion cubic meters annually.
Iraq was ranked the second worst country in the world in terms of burning associated gas after Russia in 2020; the rate of what it burned during this year was about 17.4 billion cubic meters, according to data issued by the World Bank.
Iraq has been studying the associated gas investment since 2021, through a five-year plan extended until 2026, according to what was monitored by the specialized energy platform.
The Iraqi oil ministry hopes to add 400 million cubic feet of this investment to the production of Basra Gas Company during 2023, and also hopes to increase these rates to 2.6 billion cubic feet per day by 2026.
The United States is interested in this file for complex political and environmental reasons, as Iraq can provide a measure of independence from Iran by investing the associated gas instead of burning it, and it can also reduce pollution and the sector's emissions from the process itself.
In addition, the Iraqi-American talks touched on accelerating the regional electricity interconnection project with Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries, which may contribute to reducing Iraq's dependence on electricity from Iran.
Iraq's need for Iranian supplies
Adviser to the Iraqi Prime Minister Imad al-alak said that the United States has shown high seriousness to enable Iraq to implement effective strategic solutions in the field of energy, support the electric grid and exploit wealth in the medium and long term, according to the Iraqi News Agency.
These statements upset the circles of power and trade in Iran, which have been looking at Iraq as a backyard for many years, and do not imagine its independence from it in the field of energy and electricity, as well as domestic and international politics.
Iranian businessman Hamid Hosseini dismissed media reports promoting possible opportunities for Iraq to become independent from Iranian gas.
Hosseini, a former member of the Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce, said that Iraq cannot become independent of Iranian gas in the coming years, but will need increasing quantities to meet the high demand for energy in the domestic and industrial sectors.
Hosseini also stressed Iraq's urgent need for Iranian electricity exports in the coming years, according to statements quoted by the Iranian Labor news agency "ILNA".
The Iranian businessman pointed out that US aid cannot make Iraq able to produce all the quantities sufficient to meet domestic demand, but it may be able to increase gas production to meet part of the demand for gas-fired power plants.
The United States exempts Iraq from the sanctions imposed on Iran due to its heavy dependence on Iranian gas, which may threaten daily and industrial life in a country that has been suffering from political divisions, sectarian conflicts and sectarian parties for decades.
Iraq also needs Iran in a large part to meet domestic demand for electricity, which makes Husseini reassured that Baghdad's ability to paradoxically Tehran is still far away.
The traffic dilemma
If Iraq becomes independent from Iran in the field of energy, it will find itself forced to pass through Iranian roads, due to the weak state of Iraqi ports and their poor ability to respond to the growing demand for imports of goods and products, according to the Iranian businessman.
Iraq imports about 20 to 25 million tons of Iranian oil products annually, and if it tries to import and dispense with Tehran, it will find itself in front of the dilemma of traffic from Iranian roads.
For this reason, the Iranian businessman Hamid Hosseini rules out trying to create a new Iraqi market far from Iran being a major player; because it is impossible-as he put it-.
Tehran is creating a crisis
Iraq imports large quantities of Iranian gas reaching two peaks; one in the winter at a rate of 50 million cubic meters per day, and the second in the summer at a rate of 70 million cubic meters per day.
Last summer, Iraq was subjected to a major electricity crisis due to Iran's reduction of daily gas supplies to a record 8.5 million cubic meters due to Baghdad's delay in paying Iranian gas dues for 2020.
Iran's decision to reduce imports contributed to a huge deficit in electricity generation that reached 7.5 thousand megawatts, forcing the Iraqi Ministry of electricity to speed up the settlement of dues amounting to 1.6 billion dollars before resuming supply again.
The Iraqi Ministry agreed with Iran to double daily gas supplies from 10 million cubic meters in February to 25 million cubic meters during March (2023).
The ministry hopes for the return of normal supply rates at 30 million cubic meters per day after March 2023, according to statements by Iraqi Ministry of Electricity spokesman Ahmed al-Abadi to the specialized energy platform.
Negotiations with Qatar :
Abadi said-in response to a question to the energy platform - that the Iraqi oil ministry is looking to diversify gas imports through other countries, including Qatar, with which they are currently negotiating.
Abadi confirmed the Iraqi Council of ministers ' mandate to the ministries of oil and electricity to negotiate with Qatar, according to a decision issued on February 15, 2022.
Based on this decision, the Ministry of electricity was tasked to discuss a proposal submitted by the American company excleret to contract with Qatari gas companies, in coordination with the Ministry of oil.
In February 2022, the specialized energy platform released exclusive information that the initial volume of the upcoming deal between Qatar and Iraq amounts to 1.5 million tons per annum of liquefied compressed gas.
In parallel, the Iraqi government is considering complementary projects to establish liquefied gas platforms to convert it into dry gas, in addition to building a network of docks and pipelines specialized in transporting gas to power plants.
Abadi says that these projects are extremely important for the success of any attempts by the oil ministry in the field of importing gas substitutes from countries other than Iran, primarily Qatar .
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