Iraq diversifies, expands sources of energy and electricity

Iraq on June 10 paid debt owed to Iran for gas and electricity imports, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), transferring $1.6 billion to pay down debt acquired under the previous governments of prime ministers Haidar al-Abadi and Adel Abdul Mahdi.

On July 3, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi inaugurated the first Iraqi generator in Maysan province that uses only Iraqi gas from the fields in the province itself.

In his speech at the inauguration, Kadhimi emphasized the policy of diversifying Iraq electricity resources to reduce dependency on one side. This policy includes grid connection with the Gulf, Jordan, Egypt and Turkey. This is in addition to Iraq’s main deal in 2021 of $27 billion with France’s TotalEnergies to extract Iraqi gas that is currently mostly flaring.