ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) — Turkmenistan and Iran signed a contract on Wednesday for the supply of 10 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas per year, which Iran will then ship to Iraq.
The deal was announced by the Turkmen Foreign Ministry, which did not disclose the financial value of the contract.
The ministry statement said Iranian companies will build a new 125-kilometer (77-mile) pipeline to Iran to expand Turkmenistan’s supply capacity. The ministry said Turkmenistan plans to increase its gas supplies to Iran to 40 billion cubic meters per year.
Iraq faced disruptions last year in the supply of Iranian gas, which accounted for about 40% of imports.
Turkmenistan is heavily dependent on revenues from the sale of gas in its vast reserves, and the government was tasked with finding alternative options to ensure the operation of power plants in the central and southern provinces of the country.
The former Soviet republic of Turkmenistan relies heavily on the export of its vast natural gas reserves. China is the country’s main buyer of gas, and Turkmenistan is also working on a pipeline to supply gas to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
