June 28, 2019
The United States has allowed Iraq to continue importing Iranian natural gas for its power grid for another four months by extending a waiver to sanctions—the third extension Washington has given Iraq, which is the only country still enjoying a waiver.
An Iraqi government source told Reuters the extension was given during a phone call between Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The State Department said the United States continued to insist on Iraq “diversifying energy imports away from Iran.” Iraq imports electricity directly from Iran and also imports natural gas that is used to run three electricity generating plants in Iraq. Energy specialists say it will take a few years before Iraq could build the infrastructure to eliminate the need for Iranian supplies.
The Trump Administration has said oil-rich Iraq must become more self-reliant for its electricity, including by reducing gas flaring at oil production sites and using that gas to produce electricity.
US energy giant General Electric is in the running to win a large share of multibillion-dollar contracts to rebuild Iraq’s electricity system amid intense US lobbying efforts.
Although Iraq has one of the world’s largest natural gas reserves, it has moved slowly to develop them.
