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Two new projects will add 140 million cubic feet a day (mcf/d) of gas to Iraq’s production when they come on stream in 2025, the OPEC member’s Oil Minister has said.
Hayan Abdel Ghani said in weekend press comments that the Iranian gas import bill is sapping Iraq’s coffers and those supplies are not secure.
He told the official news agency that those projects in the Southern Basra city would be completed this year while 50 mcf/d will also be produced by TotalEnergies as emergency quantities requested by Baghdad.
Abdel Ghani said Iraq is making headway in plans to tap its gas resources and gradually end the long-standing practice of flaring its produced gas, adding that 67 percent of the produced gas is now used against a rate of 53 percent three years ago.
Abdel Ghani said the two NGL projects are undertaken by Basra Gas Company, which was created in 2013 as a 25-year joint venture owned 51 percent by Iraq, 44 percent by Shell and 5 percent by Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation.
He noted that the new gas quantities would be used in the operation of power facilities in South Iraq.
Iraq has complained that Iranian gas supply disruptions have played havoc with its electricity network as many power plants are often forced to shut, causing a decline in the country’s power generation.
(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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