Managing director of the Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company says a pipeline that will take Iran's gas to Iraq will become operational by August 22.
Alireza Gharibi was quoted by the Oil Ministry's official news agency, Shana, as saying that testing 100 kilometers of the pipeline has come to an end and the pipeline will be ready to transfer Iran's natural gas to its western neighbor in 20 days.
"At present, we are discharging water from the pipeline and after a few final tests, which will take to the end of this (Iranian) month, the pipeline will be ready for exports," he added.
Gharibi stated that in the first phase of its operations, the pipeline will conduit a daily total of five million cubic meters (mcm) of gas to Iraq and this figure will rise following the completion of the Sixth Iranian Gas Trunk line (IGAT-6).
"When the second section of the Sixth Iranian Gas Trunk line is completed by the end of the current Iranian year (March 19, 2016) … it will be possible to export as much as 25 mcm of gas per day to Iraq," he added.
On July 25, Gharibi told reporters that his company was conducting the final stages of testing the pipeline to export natural gas to Iraq.
"Iran will hold talks with Iraq in the next few days on the gas export project," Gharibi added.
The two countries signed an agreement on the export of natural gas from Iran's South Pars Gas Field to Iraq in 2013.
Based on the agreement, 25 mcm of gas will be delivered to Sadr, Baghdad and al-Mansouryah power plants through the 270-kilometer pipeline.
The project has been long in the offing but had been delayed due to security concerns resulting from the insurgency waged by ISIL terrorists in Iraq.