Will Iraq achieve self-sufficiency in natural gas?

Iraq concluded 4 contracts with the French company Total Energies last July to enhance oil production and invest in associated gas (Shutterstock)

The Iraqi Ministry of Oil announced that the Halfaya gas field in Maysan Governorate (south of the country) will enter into actual operation at the end of next March. The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Oil for Gas Affairs, Izzat Saber, said in his interview with the Iraqi News Agency (INA) that the field will produce 300 million standard cubic feet. daily, explaining that this field will be added to the rest of the fields that have entered into production.

Last year, the Iraqi Ministry of Oil launched a licensing round in the field of oil and gas in a persistent government effort to enhance associated gas investment in the country to meet the growing need for electric energy production, especially since Iraq relies heavily on imported Iranian gas, which costs the state billions of dollars annually. In light of the possibility that Washington will not renew the exception allowing Iraq to import Iranian gas in light of the escalation of regional tensions and the targeting of American bases in the region.

Many questions arise about the extent to which Iraq can achieve self-sufficiency in gas, especially in light of the huge contracts that Iraq signed with the French company Total Energies and others.

Large investments

Commenting on the rising investments in Iraq for gas associated with oil production operations, a member of the Parliamentary Energy Committee, Hatif Sahar Al-Mishaal, confirmed that the continuous burning of associated gas for years had a negative impact on the Iraqi economy, indicating that the lack of investment in the field of associated gas in previous licensing rounds between 2011 and 2011. And 2023 led to huge losses as well as major environmental pollution.

Large quantities of associated gas are burned in Iraqi oil fields (Reuters)

Al-Mishaal stated, in a special statement to Al-Jazeera Net, that his country has turned two years ago to investing in associated gas, and that the contracts for French company Total projects that will see the light in mid-2026 will lead to an end to the problem of burning associated gas in the country, which will secure about 65% of Iraq’s actual need for gas. This will have a positive impact on reducing the import of Iranian gas, which costs the country about 4 billion dollars annually, according to him.

He continued that the importance of investing in associated gas will reflect positively on the Iraqi citizen by ending the problem of burning associated gas, which has led to environmental disasters and the widespread spread of cancer in the southern oil-producing governorates.

Regarding the investment of free natural gas fields in the Okaz fields in Anbar Governorate (west) and the Mansouriya field in Diyala (east), a member of the Parliamentary Energy Committee revealed that it is hoped that the seventh licensing round that will concern gas fields will begin soon, especially since there are many international Emirati companies. Chinese and Qatari in the governorates of Diyala, Basra, Maysan, Anbar and others.

Iraq had concluded 4 contracts with the French energy company "Total Energies" last July, worth $27 billion, in an effort to enhance oil production and invest in associated gas, which will provide the country with about 300 million standard cubic feet of gas, in addition to producing about a thousand megawatts of gas. Electricity via renewable solar energy.

Importing continues

For his part, the professor of economics at Al-Maqal University in Basra and the oil expert, Dr. Nabil Al-Marsoumi, confirms that Iraq possesses 4 free non-associated gas fields, which are the Okaz fields in Anbar, the Mansouriyah fields in Diyala, Siba in Basra, and the Khurmur fields in Sulaymaniyah, indicating that the Okaz and Mansouriyah fields are not yet invested, while the field produces Ceiba gaseous condensers only.

Regarding investment in gas associated with oil production operations, Al-Marsoumi stated that the country’s investment in this field has increased to about 58%, and that there is a group of investments in the Halfaya field in Maysan Governorate, which will produce 300 million standard cubic feet, in addition to other projects that will be completed within two years, and will provide About 1,200 million standard cubic feet, while the investments of the French company Total will provide another about 600 million standard cubic feet per day.

Regarding Iraq's actual need for gas, the oil expert confirmed to Al Jazeera Net that Iraq's needs are much greater than the production quantities, and that his country produces about 3 billion million standard cubic feet annually, half of which is burned, while about 1.6 million standard cubic feet of it is invested, at a time when it needs... The country has about 40 million cubic meters of gas daily, indicating that if Iraq invests in all the associated gas, the production quantities will not lead the country to self-sufficiency, according to him.

Al-Marsoumi stated that Iraq's need for electrical energy produced through gas is constantly increasing, as the demand for electrical energy is estimated today at about 36 thousand megawatts, while the volume of demand is expected to rise to about 70 thousand megawatts in 2050.

Al-Marsoumi explained that the country will not be able to achieve self-sufficiency in natural gas during the next ten years, even if the government invests in natural gas fields, including the Khor Mor gas field, which is periodically subjected to repeated attacks, indicating that this field currently feeds about 80% of the energy. Electricity produced in the Kurdistan region.

The Iraqi government seeks to end the issue of gas flaring associated with oil production operations to reduce environmental pollution and the import of foreign gas (Reuters)

The need to diversify sources

At the same level, economic expert Anmar Al-Obaidi believes that there are many reasons that limit Iraq’s ability to achieve self-sufficiency in natural gas, whether free or associated, indicating that the failure to invest in the Okaz and Mansouriya fields leads to the continued voracious import of gas from Iran.

Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Al-Obaidi believes that the Iraqi government must move to diversify the sources of electrical power generation, especially by investing in solar energy and introducing oil-powered electrical production plants, in addition to the need to accelerate the completion of connecting the national electricity networks with the Arab Gulf states and Jordan, especially since Iraq imports Iranian gas is not constant, and is subject to many determinants, perhaps the most important of which is the fluctuation of Iranian imports, in addition to the fact that regional tensions may lead the United States to end the exception that Washington grants to Baghdad to import Iranian gas.

The Iraqi Minister of Electricity, Ziyad Ali Fadel, announced at the end of last January that electrical production rates had declined to about 16,000 megawatts, due to a decline in Iranian gas supply rates after the country reached the peak of electrical generation last summer with a capacity of 26,000 megawatts.

The Iraqi government continues its efforts to end the issue of gas flaring associated with oil production operations. Observers describe the efforts as very important to reduce environmental pollution and to reduce the import of foreign gas by an estimated 50% during the next few years.

Source: Al Jazeera