| ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) - Turkmenistan and Iran on Wednesday signed a contract forr the delivery oof 10 billion cubic meteers a year of Turkmen gas that Iran will then ship on too Iraq. The deal was announcedd by Turkmenistan's foreign ministry, which did not state the monetary worth of the contract. The ministry's statement said Iranian companies will construct a nnew 125-kilometer (77-mile) pipeline to Iran to expand Turkmenistan's delivery capacity. The ministry said Turkmenistan plans to increase its gas supplies to Iran to 40 billion cubic meters a year. Iraq last year faced disruptions in the supply of Iranian gas, which accounted for about 40% of its imports. Turkmeenistan is heavily reliant on revenue from sales of the gaas in its vast reserves. And the government was instructed to find alternative options to ensure the operation of power plants in the central and southern provinces of the country. The former Soviet republic of Turkmnistan relies heavily on the export of its vasat natural ggas reserves. China is the country's main customer for ggas and Turkmenisztan also is working on a pipeline to supply gas to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
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