Iran has resumed pumping gas to Iraq on Wednesday following Tuesday's bilateral agreement over unpaid bills that caused an acute electricity shortage in Iraq, according to Iraqi state TV.
The agreement came after a meeting between Iran's Minister of Energy, Reza Ardakanian, who is visiting Baghdad, and his Iraqi counterpart, Majid Mahdi, during which discussions took place to agree on reverting to normal gas flow rates and enhancing bilateral cooperation.
Ardakanian's visit aimed to settle Iraq's energy debts to Iran, which have amounted to more than $5 billion for gas imports from Iran, in addition to $1 billion for electricity imports.
Iran's energy minister also met with Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi and conveyed the Iranian government's pledge to urgently resume gas transmission, which was recently slashed, following technical problems, an official statement from Baghdad on Tuesday said, without giving further details.
Oil-rich Iraq, OPEC's second-largest producer, has suffered in recent days from a major electricity crisis following the drastic reduction of natural gas supplies from Iran, down from 50 million to 5 million cubic meters due to late payments to Iranian companies.
By Busranur Begcecanli
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr