On Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan announced that the country will sell 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Iraq annually through a swap arrangement with Iran.
The Turkmen government delegation held talks in Baghdad before the announcement.
The gas-rich country in Central Asia has a pipeline connecting it to Iran, which shares a border with Iraq.
The Foreign Ministry of Turkmenistan did not provide details about potential swaps. However, it mentioned that Iraq was interested in a five-year agreement.
Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity signed a memorandum of understanding with Turkmenistan on Friday to import the necessary gas for its power plants. However, the process requires further negotiations regarding gas transportation through Iran.
Gas imports from Iran power one-third of Iraq’s plants.
The Iraqi Minister of Electricity, Ziyad Ali Fadel, announced that Iraq will receive gas from Turkmenistan via a pipeline network in Iran, connected to Iraq’s power plants.
According to an Iraqi official in the Ministry of Electricity, Iraq will import approximately 25 million cubic meters of gas daily from Turkmenistan.
The Iraqi official stated that further negotiations with Iran and Turkmenistan were required.
