SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Iran oil minister appoints envoy for Iraqi affairs
Tehran, Sept 21 (AFP) Sep 21, 2021
Iran's oil minister has appointed a special envoy for Iraqi affairs, a first for the Islamic republic which is seeking $5 billion in arrears from its neighbour for gas exports.

The ministry's Shana news agency said Oil Minister Javad Owji had tasked Abbas Beheshti with "endeavouring to speed up settling gas export claims".

Iraq buys gas and electricity from Iran to supply about a third of its power sector, which has been worn down by years of conflict and poor maintenance.

Despite sanctions imposed by Washington since 2018, Tehran exports gas to Baghdad under a series of temporary US waivers meant to wean Iraq off Iranian energy.

Under agreements signed in 2013 and 2015, Iraq imports 70 million cubic metres (2.47 billion cubic feet) of Iranian gas per day.

The neighbours also signed a two-year electricity supply contract in June 2020.

But Iran has repeatedly cut off the gas and electricity supplies in order to pressure Iraq into paying outstanding bills.

According to Shana, Beheshti was tasked with "identifying the capacities and potentials of the two countries in the field of trade in oil and petroleum products".

He was also asked to identify and create "the necessary bases to ramp up the mutual presence of private sectors and investors in the oil industry of the two countries".

In October 2020, Hamid Hoseini, secretary of the Iranian Union of Petrochemical, Gas and Oil Exporters, said 60 percent of Iran's petrol exports went to Iraq.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
After two setbacks, SpaceX could try to launch massive Starship next week
Doubt cast on claim of 'hints' of life on faraway planet
S.Africa moves to ease black empowerment law under Starlink pressure

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Trump signs orders to boost US nuclear energy
Anthropic's Claude AI gets smarter -- and mischievious
Suriname president vows oil bonanza won't hit carbon-negative status

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Russia strikes Kyiv after first stage of major prisoner swap
Growing Arctic military presence worries Finland's reindeer herders
South Korea says concerned by China's 'no-sail zone' in overlapping waters

24/7 News Coverage
Fears for crops as drought hits northern Europe
Abrupt Soil Moisture Loss Drives Global Water Flow into Oceans, Raising Sea Levels
Ancient Climate Shifts and Their Impact on North American Landscapes



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.