Page 50 - IRANRptMar20

Bushehr-2 on the back burner until the nuclear deal was signed in November 2015. Since the US unilaterally walked out of the accord in May 2018, foreign investments made in Iran generally have to take into account the threat of US sanctions.
9.1.13 ​Utilities sector news
The spokesman of Iraq's Electricity Ministry has said that Iraq is searching for alternatives to generate the electricity it needs, including developing its own natural gas production, because Iran is now exporting only a fraction of the natural gas agreed upon for the current year. ​Speaking to Al Sabah newspaper, Ahmed al-Abadi said Iran was currently exporting only around 3mn cubic metres of natural gas to Iraq out of the agreed 25 mcm quota for the current year.
According to an agreement signed between the two countries in 2011, Iran is obliged to deliver 50 mcm of natural gas to Iraq per day. But Iran's production is apparently not enough to satisfy domestic demand and meet the country’s full export commitments. Iraq heavily relies on Iranian natural gas imports to fuel its power plants, as its own resources have not been developed. In a country where the government has struggled for years with meeting electricity and gas demand, an energy shortage can have serious political ramifications: blackouts and gas shortage can potentially fuel mass protests. Baghdad could ease its energy dependency if it can find a contractor to capture natural gas flares from its oilfields, which are currently burned off. Abadi said ministers had already met “to discuss alternative fuel sources and prepare the Ministry of Oil [MoO] to fill the shortage that has occurred at production stations”. Given the instability in sanctions-hit Iran, the gas shortage could become more acute. “It is possible that there could be further drops in gas pumped for longer periods... this drop happens every year, but the drop has been higher this year,” Abadi added.
In February 2019, when Iran’s central bank governor Abdolnasser Hemmati met with his Iraqi counterpart in Baghdad, they signed an agreement on a payment mechanism for Iraq to settle its dues, but owing to payment issues resulting from US sanctions during the past year Iraq has not been able to pay in dollars, and foreign currency-deprived Iran has not consented to be paid in Iraqi dinars, which, given the circumstances, is the only possible way. The last 90-day waiver that the US gave to Iraq to continue purchasing gas and electricity from Iraq will expire in February, after which date Iraq's Commerce Bank has to stop any transactions with Iran.
According to Iran's Oil Minister Bizhan Zanganeh, Iraq now owes $2bn to Iran for gas and electricity imports, which it cannot pay. While the tendering process is still underway to contract a firm to capture Iraq’s gas flares, Abadi said the government was hoping for another waiver “due to Iraq’s urgent need for electricity”.
9.1.14 ​Defence sector news
Tehran will attempt to put a satellite into orbit during Islamic Revolution celebrations in mid-February, according to a January 22 report from Tasnim News Agency citing Iranian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi.
50​ IRAN Country Report​ March 2020 www.intellinews.com