Iraq gives black oil to Iran instead of money for gas.
The Iraqi Minister of Electricity says that in exchange for receiving gas from Iran for use in its power plants, Iraq delivers black oil to Iran. Ziyad Ali Fadhil, in an interview with the official Iraqi news agency, mentioned the crisis of Iran’s gas shortage and its limitations in exporting gas during the cold seasons, and stated that to resolve this issue, they have agreed with Turkmenistan to import 20 million cubic meters of gas daily.
Iraq uses the gas received from Iran to fuel its power plants, and about six thousand megawatts of Iraq’s electricity production capacity, equivalent to one-third of the total capacity, depends on the imported gas from Iran.
He said that if an agreement is reached with Iran, the delivery of Turkmenistan’s gas could be implemented by the summer of 2024.
According to the contract, Iran is obligated to deliver 50 million cubic meters of gas to Iraq daily, but in recent years, it has delivered half of this amount to Iraq.
Iranian officials say Iraq owes 9 to 11 billion dollars for the purchase of gas and electricity from the Islamic Republic, but Mr. Fadhil responded to these statements by declaring that Iraq has no debt to Iran.