Iraq reports natural gas utilization surge in southern fields

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq on Sunday reported a significant increase in natural gas utilization in southern provinces, reaching 1,750 million standard cubic feet per day. The bulk of this amount is supplied to the country's power plants and industrial factories.

"Gas investment projects are among the most complex projects in the oil industry and require long periods of time to complete," Shaker Laibi, the production manager at the company, which is affiliated with Iraq's Oil Ministry, told the state-owned Iraqi News Agency, adding "the continuous efforts since 2013 have resulted in a significant increase in the quantities of gas utilized in the country."

Laibi added utilization has increased five-fold from 2013 to this year.

"The quantities of gas utilized previously ranged between 300 and 350 million standard cubic feet, while currently, in the southern region, which includes the provinces of Basra and Nasiriyah and Amara [city in Maysan province], it has reached approximately 1,750 million standard cubic feet of gas."

He pointed out that "this percentage is high and is expected to increase in the coming years within the framework of expansion and investment projects to reach the goal of 'Zero Flare,' which means the complete cessation of gas flaring."

He affirmed that "the southern region currently supplies 1,500 to 1,600 million standard cubic feet of dry gas to power plants and industrial factories," noting that "the Ministry of Oil has developed a strategic plan to utilize all the gas produced throughout the country, especially in the southern region, as it is the largest producer. The plan includes utilizing all quantities of gas by 2028."

Last month, Iraq's Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani said they had significantly reduced gas flaring through new investment projects, with utilization rates up 17 percentage points from three years ago.

Iraq is one of the worst culprits globally when it comes to flaring natural gas, a practice that is harmful to public health and the environment.

Gas flaring is the controlled burning of natural gas that is associated with oil extraction, often because the gas is difficult or uneconomical to store or transport. This practice is a major source of air pollution and greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane.

The South Gas Company official detailed that the Iraqi government has made "gas utilization a top priority, and the past period has witnessed a clear resurgence in this sector through the opening of new projects and the signing of important investment contracts."

In the next five years, Iraq is expected to establish new projects, to further increase utilization rates.