Iraq cuts gas flaring by 70%, approaches self-sufficiency: PM Sudani

Iraq, one of the worst gas flarers in the world, has cut the amount of gas it releases into the air by 70%, Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani said recently.

Reducing the amount of flared associated gas has been a priority for OPEC's second-largest crude producer, which seeks to eliminate the practice by the end of the decade, achieve gas self-sufficiency to help alleviate chronic power shortages, and potentially begin exporting gas volumes.

Sudani said the country was "approaching self-sufficiency" in gas during his Jan. 28 remarks at the Iraq Energy Conference.

Iraq has long sought to reduce reliance on Iranian gas imports for power generation. Recently, domestic shortages in Iran coupled with Iraq's inability to pay the bill have led to dramatically reduced volumes of gas flowing into Iraq from 25 million cu m/d to 7 million cu m/d in November. Iran said maintenance was the reason for the reduced volumes, and it would resume exports after maintenance was completed but did not provide a timeline.

Iraq is making progress on its gas goals, signing a heads of agreement with American services firm Halliburton on Jan. 26 to develop two oil and natural gas fields in Basrah province that could lead to the country's first LNG exports. Halliburton will partner with state companies to boost oil and gas output at the Nahr bin Umar field, including increasing gas production to 300 MMscf/d of gas from 25 MMscf/d.

Additionally, construction began in early January on a gas processing plant at Iraq's Ratawi oil field as part of the Gas Growth Integrated Project (GGIP) with French major TotalEnergies, Iraq's Basra Oil Co. and QatarEnergy.

The new ArtawiGas25 facility will be completed by the end of 2025 and capture 50 Mcf/d of associated production. Gas from the new $250 million facility will supply local electricity plants and meet the demand for about 200,000 households in the Basra region, where the field is located.

The GGIP, which the Iraqi government signed with the companies in 2021, is a $10 billion undertaking to recapture and use flared gas and also involves building a seawater treatment plant to provide water for enhanced oil recovery and a 1 GW solar power plant.

The UK and Iraq also recently signed a memorandum of understanding that outlines a five-year roadmap to reduce gas flaring and reduce Iraq's carbon footprint.

In 2023, Iraq flared around 636.8 Bcf of gas, which Energy emissions researcher Evgeniya Maiburova said isn't far off from Iraq's domestic gas consumption of 722 Bcf in 2023.

Iraq burned 267,000 b/d of crude oil for electricity in August 2023, at the peak of summer, according to figures the country self-reported to the Joint Organisations Data Initiative. It has not submitted crude burn data to JODI since March.