Iraq to finish Basra gasline within 4 months
Iraq has intensified work to complete a pipeline that will transport gas from an offshore terminal to gas facilities in the Southern oil hub of Basra, an Iraqi official has said.
Authorities are pushing contractors to finish the project as soon as possible after the US decided last week to end exemption of Baghdad to import gas from nearby Iran, said Ali Shaddad, a member of Parliament's oil and gas committee.
'Work on this project started a month ago and we expect it to be completed after 120 days…this pipeline will transport gas from an offshore platform to Basra,' he said.
Shaddad, quoted by the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) on Sunday, said the offshore terminal would receive gas from a Gulf country to offset the halt of Iranian supplies.
He did not specify that country but Iraqi officials have indicated they are planning to buy Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from Qatar.
Iraq is suffering from a severe gas supply shortage due to a sharp fall in Iranian supplies over the months few months. The shortage has aggravated Iraq's power crisis as the country relies heavily on Iranian gas to run its electricity facilities.
(Reporting by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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