Iraq inks gas supply deal with Iran

Iraqi and Iranian energy officials at a signing ceremony for a natural gas supply agreement. (Iraqi Electricity Ministry/Iraq Oil Report) By Ben Lando of Iraq Oil Report Published Tuesday, July 23rd, 2013Iran has signed an agreement to send 850 million standard cubic feet per day (scf/d) of natural gas through a pipeline into Iraq, fueling power stations to feed electricity-starved Iraqis and testing the U.S.'s sanctions regime.In a closed-door ceremony at the Ministry of Electricity in Baghdad, Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi and Iraqi Electricity Minister Karim Aftan Jumaili signed a four-year gas supply agreement, according to a Monday statement from Iraqi Electricity Ministry spokesma... Wednesday, 24 July 2013 10:53 altaltShafaq News / The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs, Hussain al-Shahristani confirmed on Wednesday that the latter will remain in office, denying reports that talked about his resignation from his post. Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki said yesterday that those responsible for energy in the country, including his deputy, Hussein al-Shahristani, provided him with "false figures" for electric power capacity in the country, at the same time revealing there is “stupidity” on contracts. While a local report revealed on Wednesday, that Shahristani has submitted his resignation to al-Maliki due to “failure” in resolving the energy file and that the latter accepted it. Faisal Abdullah, director of the media Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs told “Shafaq News” that “news about the resignation of Shahristani is not true”. He added that al-Shahristani is continuing in his work as Deputy Prime Minister. It is worth mentioning that Shahristani has said that Iraq will export electricity in the current year. However, the Ministry of Electricity began to give justification for the deterioration of processing power along with the high temperatures, and announced the loss of 2,200 megawatts of energy due to the lack of fuel and low gas pressure. Iraq needs about 14 thousand megawatts of electricity to meet the growing local need as the country produces less than the desired by Thousands despite spending tens of billions of dollars since 2003.