A protocol was signed in Ashgabat on commercial terms for the supply of 9bn cubic metres of natural gas from Turkmenistan to Iraq via Iran on a reimbursable basis (swap operations).
Turkmenistan's news agency reports that the talks were led by Iraqi Electricity Minister Ziad Ali Fadel, who discussed legal, commercial, financial and organisational conditions of "future joint activities in the gas sector" with the state concern Turkmengaz.
Iraq this summer faced disruptions in Iranian gas supplies (which accounted for about 40% of imports) and the government was tasked with finding alternatives.
Baghdad is under increasing pressure from the US to refuse to import electricity and gas from Iran, which has been under US sanctions since 2018.
Experts told Daryo that Turkmenistan has been supplying gas to Azerbaijan via Iran since early 2022.
These swap operations help provide natural gas to Iranian provinces such as Rezavi, North and South Khorasan, Golestan and Semnan, which are remote from national gas resources.
Azerbaijan, in turn, meets the needs of the local economy by supplying contracted volumes of its gas to Europe via Turkey.
Eziz Boyarov
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