Iraq says it is taking measures to maintain electricity supply ahead of summer season
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi government on Sunday announced it was taking "measures" regarding national electricity production in preparation for increased demand in the summer months ahead.
Over 16 years after the fall of the Saddam Hussein-led regime, the Iraqi government is yet to address low electricity supply in a country. Baghdad meets a part of its demand by purchasing resources it needs to supply its power plants from its neighbors like Iran.
Summer months in the nation have proved to be the most trying times for various administrations in Baghdad since 2003 as they have struggled to provide consistent power in the sweltering heat to citizens whose increased summer use of air-conditioning and other appliances strains the grid's capacity.
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Oil prices recently plunged to an 18-year low due to a glut amid competition for market share by Saudi Arabia and Russia. Iraq's income, heavily dependent on its oil sale, saw a massive cut in March due to this.
Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), led by Saudi, and Russia seem to have reached a deal to cut oil production ahead of markets reopening next Monday, but it is unclear if price gains would make up for the amount lost over the past several weeks.
On Sunday, outgoing Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi chaired a cabinet meeting during which officials discussed the latest developments in international oil prices and Iraq's energy file. Ministers of Oil, Electricity and Water Resources partook in the gathering.
The cabinet also discussed the participation of an Iraqi delegation in the OPEC meetings and the economic effects of the decline in oil prices amid the coronavirus disease pandemic, a statement from the prime minister's office said.
The statement noted that the Energy Ministry had taken measures to "support the stability of electrical energy [supply] in Iraq," and provide the necessary fuel to different power plants. The meeting also "discussed preparations by the Ministry of Electricity for the coming summer season and took a number of measures and recommendations regarding them."
The statement did not explain the details of these measures.
Iraqi Electricity Minister Luay al-Khateeb said in March that foreign electrical energy experts are unable to enter the country for the time being due to the coronavirus outbreak, which has already infected over 1,350 people and killed upwards of 70 people in the country.
Nearly 40 percent of Iraqi electricity is generated with natural gas imported from Iran, which is the regional epicenter and initial exporter of the coronavirus.
Related Article: US imposes new sanctions, as it renews limited Iraqi waiver for Iranian electricity
In late March, Washington granted Baghdad another waiver to continue to import Iranian gas to supply Iraq's electrical power plants. This was the seventh time the US has issued such an exemption since it reimposed punitive sanctions on Iran. It would reportedly end toward the end of April.