"Iran's gas will be fed into Al-Mansoureh power plant once the pre-startup tests on the pipeline (built to transport natural gas to Iraq) are complete," an informed Iraqi source, who asked to remain unnamed, told FNA on Saturday.
He said the supply of Iranian gas supplies should have already started, and explained that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist operations have caused the delay.
"We will be able to receive Iran's gas more safely due to the efforts of the (Iraqi) armed forces to get rid of the ISIL," he added.
Iran has agreed to export 25 million cubic meters (mcm) per day of gas to Iraq.
The 270-kilometer pipeline stretches from the village of Charmaleh, located in Iran’s Western province of Kermanshah, into the town of Naft Shahr on the border with Iraq.
The pipeline, which is estimated to earn Iran USD 3.7 billion a year in revenues, will be fed by the massive offshore South Pars gas field in the Southern Iran.
The pipeline will take Iran's gas from the country's South gas field phases in Southern Iran to the power plant in Iraq.
In December 2012, Iraqi energy expert Hossein al-Jawaheri told FNA that Baghdad has commissioned Iranian companies to construct a 270-kilometer gas pipeline from Iran to Iraq's al-Mansoureh power plant.
Last month, Managing Director of Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company Alireza Qaribi announced that Iran had started pre-startup tests on the pipeline built to transport the country's natural gas to Iraq to feed the Arab country’s power plants.
"After the end of cleaning and calibration pigging, 97 kilometers (Iran’s section) of the pipeline will become operational,” Qaribi said.
He noted that the 97-kilometer pipeline, 48 inches in diameter, would be linked to Iran’s gas trunklines (IGATs) to deliver natural gas from Iran to Iraq.
In July, Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Ali Majedi said Iran is expected to start pumping gas to Iraq early next Iranian year (starts March 21, 2015).
