Iran war cuts Iraqi gas imports to less than a third of power plant needs

BAGHDAD — Iranian gas deliveries to Iraq have fallen to around 15 million cubic meters per day, less than a third of what power plants reliant on imported gas require to operate at capacity, the Electricity Ministry said Sunday.

The ministry said preparations are underway for peak summer demand but warned that gas supplies remain well below required levels, with plants needing around 50 million cubic meters per day. Regional conflict has reduced imports while domestic gas output has also declined due to lower oil production, which affects associated gas supply.

Iranian gas imports collapsed after Israeli strikes on Iran’s South Pars gas field in March knocked 3,100 MW offline and cut supplies to southern governorates entirely for weeks. Iraq normally relies on Iran for between a third and 40% of its electricity needs, a dependency the conflict exposed as a serious vulnerability heading into what is expected to be a difficult summer.

The ministry said earlier this month it aims to produce 30,000 MW during the summer but acknowledged the figure will fall far short of expected peak demand of between 55,000 and 60,000 MW, meaning outages will continue across the country.

Iraq’s oil production collapsed from around 4.3 million barrels per day before the conflict to as low as 800,000 to 1.3 million bpd as the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz cut off its main southern export route. Oil accounts for around 90% of government revenue, making the disruption an acute fiscal crisis as the country heads into summer.