Iranian gas flows to neighboring Iraq have been cut amidst rising domestic Iranian demand for heating. Iraq’s electricity ministry said on 24 November that gas supply to Baghdad and the mid-Euphrates region had dwindled from contracted 25mn m3/d (883mn cfd) to 7mn m3/d (247mn cfd), with remaining supplies “diverted south [to Basra].” This indicates that flows through the second Iran-Iraq pipeline to Basra have also been cut.
The ministry says some 5.5GW of generation capacity is offline as a result and that it plans to “coordinate” with the oil ministry “to replace lost gas volumes in the network.” This would entail increasing associated gas output which would in turn complicate Iraq’s efforts to curb production in attempt to comply with Opec+ cuts (MEES, 29 November & MEES, 29 November). Iran enters this winter with already-diminished fuel reserves at power plants, amidst soaring gas demand, forcing unprecedented rolling power cuts (MEES, 15 November). This is not the first time that Tehran has prioritized its own demand over exports to Iraq. (CONTINUED - 168 WORDS)