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US Excelerate Energy seeks to equip Iraq with LNG import station
A senior Iraqi official told Bloomberg that US-based Excelerate Energy is one of the bidders in a tender to set up a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) import station in southern Iraq.
The acting director of Iraq's South Gas Company (SGC), Ali Salman, told Bloomberg that the Iraqi government, which seeks to reduce its reliance on Iranian gas to generate electricity, is in advanced negotiations with the US firm for an LNG import terminal at the Khor Al-Zubair port near Basra.
Iraq has always relied on Iran for natural gas and energy supplies. Despite being a large oil producer, Iraq has historically seen high volumes of associated gas flared rather than captured.
Iraq frequently experiences frequent outages during the summer months, when electricity consumption is the highest, due to Iran's unpredictable and inadequate gas and power supplies.
In February, SGC's director Hamza Abdel-Baqi stated that Iraq will award a contract for the construction of a gas platform and pipelines that connect the facility with onshore pipelines to facilitate the delivery of gas to power plants in southern Iraq.
To satisfy the demands of the country's power plants, the Iraqi government is constantly working to get gas supplies from countries other than Iran, in addition to its ongoing efforts to become self-sufficient in gas.
Last October, the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity and Turkmenistan reached an agreement to provide Iraq with up to 20 million cubic meters of gas each day.
As previously stated by Iraq's Electricity Minister Ziyad Ali Fadel, the arrangement will assist in guaranteeing that Iraq's gas-fired power plants receive the necessary fuel.
