“Iranian intransigence” .. an Iraqi turn towards Gulf companies to invest gas associated with oil

[size=52]“Iranian intransigence” .. an Iraqi turn towards Gulf companies to invest gas associated with oil[/size]

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[size=45]For days, Iraqi and Saudi officials have been conducting intensive dialogues regarding concluding a preliminary agreement, leading to the entry of Saudi companies operating in the energy field, to invest gas associated with oil in Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]This new trend comes in light of Iran's reluctance to fulfill its contractual obligations with Iraq regarding the supply of gas power plants, which has caused a severe energy crisis in Iraq for days, especially in light of high temperatures, during the summer.[/size]
[size=45]And last Monday, the Iraqi Oil Ministry said that Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar discussed strengthening bilateral cooperation in the energy, petrochemical and gas investment sectors during an Iraqi-Saudi ministerial meeting.[/size]
[size=45]And she stressed in a statement, "Iraq's keenness to strengthen bilateral relations between Iraq and Saudi Arabia and expand the horizons of cooperation between the two countries in all fields, including energy, petrochemicals, gas investment and clean energy, during an extensive meeting held by Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar Ismail via television with Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, in the presence of Minister of Electricity Majid Mahdi, Chairman of the Investment Authority Suha Al-Najjar and a number of officials.[/size]
[size=45]According to the Iraqi minister, “This meeting comes within the framework of the two brotherly countries’ desire to cooperate in the implementation of a number of investment projects, as the desire of Saudi companies to hold investment partnerships in free and associated gas investment projects, especially in the Akkas fields in Anbar and Artawi in Basra, and the petrochemical industries, including the project of Nebras.[/size]
[size=45]On the Saudi side, officials in Aramco, SABIC and Acco Power were also present, according to what was mentioned in the Iraqi statement.[/size]
[size=45]Progress in the negotiations[/size]
[size=45]The issue of investing gas that is burned in the Iraqi fields constituted a real problem for the state, whether economically with a bill amounting to more than five billion dollars annually, or environmentally with its negative effects, especially in the city of Basra, where it is burned annually, according to the estimates of the Parliamentary Oil Committee and the Iraqi Ministry of Planning. It amounts to about 18 billion cubic meters of gas.[/size]
[size=45]An official in the Iraqi Oil Ministry said that "meetings between Iraqi and Saudi officials have been going on for more than two months, to reach a preliminary agreement on its entry into the Iraqi arena, and work in the field of investment in associated gas," noting that "progress in understandings regarding the crutch field in Anbar province." After the withdrawal of the previous company (Kokaz Gas).[/size]
[size=45]The official, who refused to reveal his identity, added to (BasNews), that "the initial direction of the talks is focused on the investment of free gas with more than 300 million standard cubic feet, which represents an opportunity towards investing in the rest of the Iraqi fields, such as Basra, where discussions are also taking place in this direction, But it needs more maturity.”[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out that "the Iraqi Oil Ministry has received a number of offers during the last period, some of them from American companies, but they are still in the process of preliminary talks, and feel the pulse."[/size]
[size=45]The Akkas gas field, which was discovered in 1992, is located northwest of Anbar (25 km southwest of Al-Qaim district on the Euphrates River), near the Syrian border. 6 trillion standard cubic metres.[/size]
[size=45]For months, Iraq has been facing an electrical crisis, due to the dwindling of Iranian gas entering the country, which is used to operate power stations, due to Iraq's failure to pay the money entrusted to Tehran as a result of selling gas, as the US sanctions imposed on Tehran prevent it from receiving any amounts in dollars, which is required to Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]Official estimates indicate that Iran's accumulated dues amounted to about 5 trillion Iraqi dinars, while Iran seeks, through previous negotiations, to release those funds, which Baghdad has postponed.[/size]
[size=45]And last month, the Iraqi Minister of Electricity, Majid Al-Hantoush, visited Tehran, with the aim of persuading it to increase its gas exports, to spare Iraq a serious crisis, but the dialogues did not produce any agreement so far.[/size]
[size=45]repositioning[/size]
[size=45]Despite the need for the project to exploit gas associated with oil to several years, observers see Iraq's exploitation of its gas extraction fields as a way out of Iran's clutches and its policy of blackmail and its constant desire to increase gas prices, despite the huge difference with international prices.[/size]
[size=45]Data from BP indicate that Iraq buys Iranian gas at $11.23 per thousand cubic feet, compared to about $6.49 paid by Kuwait to buy liquefied gas.[/size]
[size=45]According to a report by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Iraq currently wastes approximately $2.5 billion annually as a result of burning gas associated with oil extraction operations, which amounts to 1.55 billion cubic feet per day, equivalent to 10 times the amount imported from Iran.[/size]
[size=45]It is not yet clear which of the Saudi companies may enter the Iraqi field, but the giant Aramco has an old experience dating back to before the seventies of the last century, regarding dealing with gas associated with oil.[/size]
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