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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region Iran will begin exporting natural gas to Iraq this week, Iran's oil minister said,years after the initial announcement of construction of an Iran-Iraq natural gas pipeline and postponements because of awaited payments from Baghdad, The additional fuel should supplement Iraq's under powered electricity grid.

Bijan Zangeneh, the Iranian oil minister, was reported by the Iranian news agency Tasnim as saying that the pumping of natural gas through the pipeline is slated to begin on Tuesday.

The pipeline connects the largest natural gas field in the world, the South Pars/North Dome Gas Condensate field, which is shared by Iran and Qatar, to the Iraqi city of Basra. The Basra Province has some of the country's largest natural gas power plants and a processing plant.

Rudaw reported in May 2016 that the pipeline will supply 50 million cubic-meters of gas per day, capable of generating 3,500 megawatts of power per day.

Though Iraq is a major OPEC oil producer, the country has been incapable of meeting its residents' electricity consumption. Iraq's peak electricity demand was 21,000 megawatts in the summer and the grid is only able to supply about 13,000 megawatts, Reuters reported last April.

Iran and Iraq signed a 2013 agreement regarding Iran's export of natural gas, but the pipeline wasn't completed until June 2016 because of security issues , then Tehran was awaiting payments from Baghdad.

Iran is ready to start the export of gas to Iraq and Iraq is also ready to receive the gas. However, the related letter of credit for the project is yet to be opened, Iran's oil ministry said earlier in January, cited by Irans Press TV.

He also announced through the ministry that the country's gas production had increased by 50-percent over the past three years because of improvements at South Pars.

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Iranian gas to flow into Iraq years after initial agreement - Rudaw