Kuwait has agreed with Iraq to import up to 200 million cubic feet (5.6 million cubic meters) of Iraqi natural gas daily, in a billions of dollars deal, a senior Kuwaiti official confirmed Tuesday.
A joint economic commission between the two sides approved a memorandum of understanding (MoU), which is expected to be signed by the two governments within a week, Kuwaiti Energy Ministry Undersecretary Issa Al-Oun told reporters after a meeting of the commission.
Al-Oun, who leads the Kuwaiti side in the joint body, said the project, including the building of facilities and rehabilitation of a pipeline that will carry the gas, would cost 240 million Kuwaiti dinars (about $810 million). According to SPA, one month after signing the MoU, the two states will ink a commercial agreement to regulate the imports which are due to start within one year of signing the agreement, Al-Oun said.
In the first stage, Kuwait will import some 35 million cubic feet (one million cubic meters) of Iraqi gas daily in a project estimated to cost $27 million of which the emirate will pay $20 million, the official said.
Details for the second phase will be reviewed in a meeting three months from now, Al-Oun conveyed. It is estimated to cost $786 million of which Kuwait will pay $440 million and the rest will be paid by Iraq, he said.
Kuwait, which is poor in natural gas resources, also agreed to boost its exports of refined products to Iraq to help it cope with fuel shortages, Al-Oun said. The quantity of petrol will be raised from the present two million liters (440,000 gallons) daily to three million liters daily from January 1 for six months, he said.
Additionally, Kuwait will export up to 1.5 million liters (330,000 gallons) of diesel daily in addition to 180,000 tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) daily to Iraq until the end of June next year, Al-Oun said.
