Iraqis living in Baghdad and Central Euphrates governorates are braving this year’s winter weather without the ability to turn on much needed electric heaters due to low supplies of electricity, which is sometimes made available for a mere five hours a day.
The Levantine country’s Electricity Ministry has attributed the extended power cuts to Iran halting its gas exports to Iraq, which are vital for running some of Iraq’s power stations. It said that the freeze in exports comes as a result of Baghdad falling short on debt payments to Tehran.
It is worth noting that the energy committee at parliament called for replacing senior officials in the Electricity Ministry to avoid a possible system collapse.
“The sharp decline in power production is the result of Tehran stopping its supply of gas to Iraq,” Electricity Ministry Spokesman Ahmed al-Abadi told Asharq Al-Awsat, adding that Iraq was late on paying its dues to Iran.
“Iran used to supply Iraq with about 50 million cubic meters per day, but today only about 5 million cubic meters are being delivered. This caused a significant drop in electricity generation,”al-Abadi explained.
“We have previously warned that the electricity issue could bring down any government if it is not handled properly. The government today has the option of negotiating with the Iranian side over the outstanding debts, and there is also the option to instruct the Ministry of Oil to replace gas with liquid fuel,” he added.
The spokesman, however, ruled out the latter option due to Iraq requiring 23,000 cubic meters of liquid fuel per day to run its power stations, which is out of the country’s production capacity.
Iraq’s only remaining option, according to al-Abadi, is for the government to buy more time from Iran.
Iran’s energy minister is expected to visit Baghdad next Tuesday. Iraqi officials will likely seek convincing him to extend the deadline on payments.
