In a pivotal move to diversify its gas sources and following prior negotiations with Turkmenistan to supply gas to Iraq, to meet the need of electricity production stations, the Minister of Electricity of Iraq Ziad Ali Fadil paid an official government visit to Turkmenistan at the head of a ministerial delegation, stated the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity’s information service.
In Ashgabat, the minister met with the Minister of State, Chairman of the State Concern “Turkmengaz” Maksat Babayev and other officials.
The meeting focused on discussing the necessary steps and final procedures to reach an agreement on the supply of Turkmen gas to Iraq. The minister stressed the desire of the Iraqi government to strengthen economic cooperation with Turkmenistan in various fields, expressing his optimism to sign the gas supply agreement soon, pointing to the importance of the agreement in securing the necessary fuel sources and their diversification for the country’s power plants.
The State News Agency of Turkmenistan TDH reported that following the meeting in Ashgabat, a Protocol on the main commercial terms of the agreement on the sale, purchase, sale of Turkmen natural gas to Iraq was signed.
According to the protocol, 9 billion cubic meters of Turkmen natural gas will be transported annually through t Iran to Iraq under the SWAP scheme for a period of 5 years.
This was the first visit by a government official to Turkmenistan to sign a gas import agreement with a country that does not have geographical borders with Iraq, which reflects the Iraqi government’s determination to diversify gas sources for electrical stations from different countries, in addition to neighboring countries, with the aim of achieving better reliability and stability in electricity supply, the Iraqi ministry says in a statement.
Turkmenistan and Iraq inked a Memorandum of Understanding in early October, paving the way for the supply of natural gas to meet the needs of Iraqi power plants. The MoU was signed during Maksat Babayev’s visit to Baghdad.