BAGHDAD, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani announced on Tuesday that Iraq and Iran signed a deal to end the Iranian gas supply crisis to support electricity production in the country.
In a televised speech on the official Iraqiya channel, al-Sudani said the two countries agreed that Iraq would supply black oil to Iran in exchange for gas.
"Iranian gas supply has resumed, and the quantities will increase, starting this evening, when 10 million cubic meters will be pumped, and the supply will return to the same previous level," he said.
Al-Sudani attributed the gas crisis with Iran to the U.S. sanctions on Iran, as the Iraqi government was unable to transfer funds for imported Iranian gas, prompting Iran to reduce the gas supply by more than 50 percent.
However, al-Sudani said the current gas production projects in Iraq, including gas production deals with the French company TotalEnergies, and other projects in the southern province of Basra, will end the need to import gas to feed power stations within two to three years.
Iraq imports Iranian gas to feed its power stations across the country, but Iran occasionally reduces gas supply over accumulated debts owed by Iraq. ■
