Iraq turns to Turkmenistan to plug Iranian gas gap

• Iranian gas flow halted
• Iraq claims loss of 9,000MW
• New deal with Turkmenistan

Iraq has always considered neighbouring Iran as a stable and reliable supplier of natural gas needed to run its power facilities, but experts now believe that alternative sources and domestic Iranian needs have put this relationship in doubt.

Iran’s gas exports to Iraq have fluctuated sharply and the shortage has played havoc with Iraq’s power system at a time when the Arab country is struggling to rebuild war-damaged facilities.

Last week the Iraqi Electricity Ministry announced that the national power network has lost nearly 9,000 megawatts due to the complete stoppage of Iranian gas supplies.

Iraqi officials said in late November that Iran told them that supplies would be halted for 15 days due to maintenance of its pipelines and other gas facilities. But the year ended and there were no signs of a resumption of gas supplies.

Experts doubted Iran’s explanation on the grounds that gas supplies to Iraq have been volatile over the past months and way below the 50 million cubic metres per day defined in a long-term supply agreement between the two neighbours.

While maintenance and other technical reasons were cited in late 2024, Iraqi officials said in early 2024 that Iran was reducing supplies because Baghdad defaulted on payment.

“The reasons stated by the Iranians for the supply stoppage are unconvincing. They said in November it is only for 15 days but there were no supplies for the rest of last year,” said Nabil Al-Marsoumi, an economics and energy professor at Iraq’s Basra University.

Al-Marsoumi told the local press he believed the real reason for the shortage was due to the cold weather in Iran over the past weeks, meaning supplies were needed for domestic needs.

“This was obvious in the power disruptions for several hours in Tehran and other areas. Nearly 80 of the 600 power stations went out of service due to the gas shortages,” he said in comments to local press.

“Iran has become an unreliable gas supplier because it is violating the terms of the agreement with Iraq.”

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Persistent Iranian gas shortages have prompted Iraq to turn to Turkmenistan to meet domestic demand and officials said the quantities to be imported from that country would be enough to operate half of the gas-run power plants in Iraq.

“Iraq has taken a sound decision to import gas from Turkmenistan to tackle its electricity shortage crisis,” said Walid Khaddouri, former information chief of the Kuwaiti-based Arab Energy Organization.

“It is one of the worst crises faced by Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion, although it has pumped in at least $41 billion to develop its power sector.”

Under an agreement signed late last year, Turkmenistan would pump around 20-25 million cubic metres of gas per day to Iraq through Iran’s pipeline network.

In a statement at the end of 2024, Iraq’s Electricity Ministry said: “We are now working to transfer the agreed funds to Turkmenistan so it will start pumping gas to Iraq.”

Iraq’s prime minister Mohammed Al-Sudani said in 2024 that Baghdad would gradually reduce reliance on Iranian gas after projects awarded to foreign companies over the past year to develop gas fields begin to come on stream.

Iraq, which controls the world’s fifth-largest recoverable oil deposits, has officially estimated its proven natural gas reserves at around 3.5 trillion cubic metres.