OPEC member Iraq is planning to install floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals at several ports while seeking to persuade the US to drop its objection to a gas supply agreement with Turkmenistan, an Iraqi official has said.

Electricity Ministry spokesman Ahmed Mousa told Iraq's Shafaq News Agency that Baghdad has reached an understanding with Qatar and Oman to supply Iraq with LNG through those terminals.

"While discussions with Washington continue, Iraq is preparing alternative supply routes, including the construction of offshore LNG terminals in Umm Qasr, Khor al-Zubair, and other southern ports that will be operational by next summer," he said.

Earlier this month, Iraq issued an Award Letter to Texas-based Excelerate Energy to develop an integrated floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Basra.

In August, Zawya Projects reported that lower Iranian gas supplies and other factors have created a large power supply gap in Iraq although it imports electricity from nearby Turkey through interconnections and from the GCC Grid through Kuwait.

However, Iraq requires the purchase and installation of floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) to store LNG and convert it back into a gaseous state Nabil Al-Marsoumi, an energy and economics professor at Basra University in South Iraq.

"This is a thorny issue right now; the infrastructure at Khor Zubair port in South Iraq is not ready yet to receive LNG vessels," he said.

The planning ministry last year estimated Iraq's power generation capacity at 23-25 gigawatts (GW) but actual needs exceed 35 GW and could climb to 50 GW during summer.

(Writing by N Saeed; Editing by Sona Nambiar)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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