TEHRAN Sept. 09 (Shana) -- National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) can supply Iraq with 35 million cubic meters of gas on a daily basis given a new amendment to the gas export contract signed by the two neighboring Asian states, director for international affairs of NIGC said.
Azizollah Ramezani said based on a new amendment added to the gas contract, the former can raise its gas supply from the original 25mcm/d to 35mcmc/d when needed.
The amount will be delivered to Iraq's city of Basra mainly for generation of electricity during 5 hot months of the year, added Ramezani.

The gas transfer to Iraq will begin with 5mcmc/d which will reach 35mcm/d by completion of a gas pipeline project from Iran, said the official.
Iran completed its share of the 97-km pipeline in late August.

Alireza Gharibi, managing director of Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company, earlier in July that the final tests as well as cleaning and calibration pigging on the pipeline were completed and the pipeline was ready to export Iranian natural gas on August 20.
The pipeline, 48 inches in diameter, is also linked to Iran�s gas trunklines (IGATs) to deliver natural gas from Iran to Iraq.

In its first phase, the pipeline will carry 5mcm/d of natural gas from Iran to Iraq, and the amount will raise once the line is linked to IGATs.
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 3.7 billion dollars a year in revenues, will be fed by the massive offshore South Pars gas field in southern Iran.
The South Pars gas field, which Iran shares with Qatar in the Persian Gulf, is estimated to contain 14 trillion cubic meters of gas and 18 billion barrels of condensate.

Iraq needs Iranian gas for power generation to solve a part of its load-shedding problem which is causing unrests in parts of the country during hot summer days.
Besides the envisaged gas supply, Iran will also provide neighboring Iraq with training programs for its technical, financial and executive manpower, he added.

By SHANA