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Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed S. Al-Sudani announced a series of ambitious energy milestones and targets during the Iraq Energy Conference 2026 held in Baghdad on Wednesday.
OPEC’s second biggest oil producer is targeting to ship 40 percent of its oil exports as high-value derivatives by 2030, he said in his keynote address, adding that the government is working to monetise associated gas, and eliminate environmentally harmful gas flaring entirely by 2028.
He noted that Iraq has achieved full utilisation of 74 percent of its gas resources, while proven reserves of free natural gas have risen to nearly 132 million standard cubic feet.
Al-Sudani said the government has completed procedures to establish new power plants with a total capacity of 57,500 megawatts (MW), including 34 power plants through agreements with GE Vernova and Siemens Energy.
Electricity generation has reached record levels of almost 29,000MW, supported by upgrades to transmission and distribution networks that targeted loss reduction.
The Prime Minister added that Iraq has launched 15 renewable energy projects across multiple provinces, targeting 7,500MW of solar capacity as part of efforts to diversify the power mix and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
Al Sudani said refinery capacities have been expanded and new units added in cooperation with the private sector with a view to discontinue expensive fuel imports.
(Writing by Majda Muhsen; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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