Iraq at risk of power shortages after Iran slashes gas supply –Iraq ministry
27/12/2020 13:21
BAGHDAD, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Iraq’s capital Baghdad and other
cities are at risk of serious power shortages after Iran slashed
gas exports, the electricity ministry said on Sunday,
potentially placing further pressure on the government of Prime
Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
Iran has reduced gas exports to Iraq to five million cubic
metres from 50 million cubic metres two weeks ago citing unpaid
bills, a ministry spokesman said.
It also officially informed Iraq’s electricity ministry on
Sunday that it plans to cut shipments further to three million
cubic metres, the spokesman said.
Iraq has lost around 6,550 megawatts of electricity,
spokesman Ahmed Moussa said.
Iraq’s daily consumption during peak hours of winter reaches
around 19,000 megawatts while the country generates around
11,000 megawatts, replying on imports to fill the gap, he said.
Iran’s Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian is scheduled to visit
Baghdad on Tuesday to discuss the unpaid bills with his Iraqi
counterpart, Moussa said.
“We strongly encourage Iraq’s finance ministry to resolve
the unpaid bills with Iran to avoid critical shortages of power
supplies in Baghdad and other cities,” Moussa said.
Washington has repeatedly extended by 90 or 120 days a
sanctions exemption to allow Baghdad to import Iranian energy,
but in November it granted only a 45-day extension.
The United States has insisted that oil-rich Iraq, OPEC’s
second-largest producer, move towards self-sufficiency as a
condition for its exemption for importing Iranian energy, yet
Baghdad has struggled to do so, in part due to low oil prices.
(Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; editing by Jason Neely)
((ahmed.rasheed@thomsonreuters.com; +964-7901-947-131; Reuters
Messaging: ahmed.rasheed.thomsonreuters.com@thomsonreuters.net))