Iraq looks to end reliance on Hormuz and Iranian gas with pipelines and new power generation projects

Baghdad is trying to buy its way out of two Iranian chokeholds at once, with both fixes running through Europe. Planned pipelines from Iraq’s southern fields to Turkey and Syria will aim at European buyers and bypass the Strait of Hormuz, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al Zaidi said in Berlin on Wednesday, according to a statement. Al Zaidi’s remarks came one day after his electricity minister signed a fourth-phase framework with Siemens Energy meant to get Iraqi power plants off imported gas, the ministry said in a statement.

The crude routes: The two lines, running from Basra to Turkey and to the Syrian port of Baniyas, would carry a combined 2.2 mn bbl / d, around 65% of what Iraq exported before the US-Iran conflict began. Iraq was sending some 3.4 mn bbl / d through Hormuz before the strait was effectively closed. “We do not want to remain hostage to one route,” Al Zaidi is quoted as saying.

On the grid side: The Siemens framework covers combined-cycle and thermal plants burning fuels Iraq has at home, new and upgraded substations, maintenance work, and financing mechanisms. Al Zaidi wants generation sources “beyond gas” after Iranian supply proved unreliable this year.