Iraq strikes new gas import deal with Iran

TEHRAN,April 11(MNA) - Iraq will soon ink a deal with Iran to start importing 25 million cubic meters (mcm) of natural gas each day in 2013. Based on an agreement between the counties respective oil ministers, the Iranian gas will be fed into four Iraqi power plants. Iran has the second largest proven gas reserves in the world after Russia. Iraq has said that it needs 10 to 15 million cubic meters of Iranian gas per day. Last Iranian year Some 86 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas was produced in the South Pars gas field, south of Iran year, the Pars Oil and Gas Company’s managing director said. Shana news agency quoted Mousa Souri as saying that the output is valued at around $40 billion. The gas field’s output was increased by 6 million cubic meters per day in the past year compared to the year before, he added. The South Pars gas field is shared by Iran and Qatar. The Iranian share, which is divided into 29 phases, has about 14 trillion cubic meters of gas, or about eight percent of the total world reserves, and more than 18 billion barrels of liquefied natural gas resources.