The Turkmen foreign ministry has announced a new deal that will significantly increase Turkmenistan’s natural gas shipments to Iraq via a new Iranian pipeline.
The new 77-mile pipeline, which will be constructed by Iranian companies, will allow Turkmenistan to ship an additional 10 million cubic meters of gas into Iraq through Iran, according to the newly signed contract.
Last year, Iraq faced considerable gas shortages due to disruptions in Iranian shipments, which made up approximately 40% of all Iraqi imports.
Increasing export capacity
The statement also noted that Turkmenistan plans to increase its gas shipments to Iran itself to 40 million cubic meters because of the marked increase in export capacity.
The foreign ministry, however, did not specify the monetary value of either aspect of the contract.
Turkmenistan is deeply reliant on its vast natural gas reserves, with exports making up a massive percentage of overall government revenue, according to the US State Department.
The country has the fourth largest natural gas reserves in the world but falls outside the top ten in production due to a lack of infrastructure and technical capacity.
While China is by far the largest recipient of Turkmen natural gas, Ashgabat has also previously announced plans to diversify by constructing pipelines to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.
