As of: 01/13/2023 7:14 p.m
The federal government is looking worldwide for a replacement for the lack of Russian gas imports. During the inaugural visit of the Iraqi Prime Minister, Chancellor Scholz brought up Iraq as an energy supplier.
In his search for a replacement for Russian gas, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is now also campaigning for an energy partnership with Iraq. “Iraq would be a very welcome cooperation partner for us when it comes to importing gas and oil to Germany,” said Scholz after a meeting with the country’s new prime minister, Mohammed Schia al-Sudani, in Berlin.
Gas imports could also be forwarded to other European countries via Germany. Scholz emphasized that Germany does not want to become dependent on individual gas suppliers again, as it used to be dependent on Russia. At times, far more than half of German gas imports came from there before the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
Use of gas produced during oil production
Germany is currently no longer buying any gas from Russia. Al-Sudani stressed Iraq’s intention to further boost gas exports. “We have ambitious plans for the use of gas that accompanies oil production and is burned in the process,” said the prime minister. “We have shown these possibilities and invited German companies to invest in this sector.”
Hardly any other country in the world is as dependent on oil revenues as Iraq. According to the International Energy Agency, the country is the fifth largest oil producer. Iraq also exports gas via an LNG terminal opened in 2022 by the Basra Gas Company.
Siemens is to build power plants in Iraq
On the fringes of the visit, Siemens Energy also signed a memorandum of understanding with Iraq’s Electricity Minister Siad Ali Fadhil to expand the infrastructure of the country’s notoriously poor power supply.
“We have had good experiences with Siemens. We have expressed the wish to see other (German) companies in the areas of health, education and agriculture,” said al-Sudani. Specifically, Siemens Energy is to set up and expand power plants operated with fossil and renewable energy sources with a dimension of around six gigawatts.
In addition to the unfortunate economic situation and corruption, the poor power supply is one of the reasons for the mass protests that have shaken Iraq in several waves since 2019. Al-Sudani made his inaugural visit to Berlin after forming his government in October after months of power struggles.