Iraq holds talks with Excelerate Energy on buying first LNG from US

 Excelerate Energy (NYSE:EE) +2.1% in Thursday's trading after Bloomberg reported that Iraq's government is in advanced talks to facilitate the country's first-ever liquefied natural gas imports, seeking to cut dependence on Iran for supplies.

Excelerate (NYSE:EE) is one of several companies to have submitted a bid to provide an LNG import ship and secure supplies of the fuel, said Ali Salman, acting director general for the state-run South Gas Company, which has been charged with overseeing the development of the project.

Iraq's push to buy LNG comes as the country halted electricity imports from neighboring Iran earlier this year after the Trump administration ended a sanction waiver in an effort to tighten pressure on Iran.

Iraq does not produce enough gas to operate its mostly gas-fired power plants and suffers from crippling blackouts every summer when demand peaks.

The U.S. has urged Iraq to diversify the origins of its gas imports, and the government signed an agreement with Turkmenistan last year for gas supplies, and has been in talks with Qatar and others to find more solutions.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/iraq-in-talks-with-excelerate-energy-to-facilitate-its-first-ever-lng-imports-bloomberg/ar-AA1Hua0M