Iran Cuts Gas Exports To Turkey Amid Domestic Cold Spill

Heavy snow and cold weather have hit Iran in the past week.
Heavy snow and cold weather have hit Iran in the past week.

Turkey said on Thursday it will impose limited power outages to large industrial facilities and electricity plants after Iran cut gas exports for up to 10 days due to a "technical failure."

The nature of the technical problem is not clear, but Iran suffers from natural gas shortages in cold and hot temperatures when local consumption skyrockets.

Temperatures have dipped below freezing in many parts of Iran, which could have reduced gas available for export. Heavy snow has blanketed mountainous regions.

Turkey’s energy ministry said the cuts will be pre-planned to reduce disruptions. In a statement, the ministry added that it took precautions to ensure other consumers would not be impacted by the gas flow interruption.

Iranian officials had earlier warned of gas shortages in the cold winter months.

Iran needs tens of billions of dollars in investments for its sagging energy sector that also suffers from lack of advanced Western technology. Pressure at Iranian gas fields have been falling in recent years.

Years of international and American sanctions, as well as an inefficient government-controlled economy have prevented investments and technology to keep the energy sector robust.