The development of the crutch gas field in Anbar opens the way for foreign investment in the country

[size=52]The development of the crutch gas field in Anbar opens the way for foreign investment in the country[/size]

[size=45]Translation/ Hamid Ahmed
[size=45]The Iraqi Oil Ministry announced in a statement yesterday that Iraq will start developing the crutch gas field in Anbar Governorate, which may open the way to attract foreign investments at a time when the second largest oil producer in OPEC is seeking to strengthen its gas production sector.[/size]
[size=45]The Iraqi National Oil Company, headed by the Iraqi Oil Minister, Ihsan Ismail, held a meeting during which plans to develop the Iraqi oil sector were discussed, as well as plans to develop and operate the Akkas gas field in the western desert of Anbar Governorate.[/size]
[size=45]In 2011, the South Korean company, Kogas, signed a deal with Iraq to develop the Akkas gas field as part of initial plans to produce 400 million standard cubic feet per day. The area was liberated in November 2017, and Baghdad announced that the Iraqi forces had regained the Okaz al-Ghazi field from ISIS control.[/size]
[size=45]It is noteworthy that Iraq held talks with the Korean company Kokaz team in 2018, which revolved around evaluating the extent of damage to the assets of the crutch field and when work can be resumed in it. But those negotiations failed to reach a restart of the project.[/size]
[size=45]And the Undersecretary for Distribution Affairs at the Ministry of Oil, Hamed Younis, had stated in a statement to Platts Energy Agency in June 2020 that the Okaz field, which is the largest non-associated gas field in the country, could produce 400 million cubic feet of gas per day.[/size]
[size=45]The Akkas gas field, which was discovered in 1992 and operated by the Korean Kokaz Company, has a reserve of 5.6 trillion cubic feet and is the largest gas field in Iraq. The value of the South Korean company's contract for the Crutch field development project is $5.8 billion.[/size]
[size=45]Iraq has been seeking for a long time to seek the help of international oil companies to collect and manufacture its gas. As the majority of the gas produced by Iraq is the one that is pumped along with the oil and most of it is burned. According to the World Bank, in 2020 Iraq was considered the second most gas-burning country in the world after Russia.[/size]
[size=45]In May 2020, Iraq stated that Saudi Arabia had agreed to allow Saudi companies to invest in the Cruz field development project, which increased optimism by giving the project new impetus. This optimism increased on June 9, 2020, when Iraq announced that it was moving forward with plans to develop both the Cruz field and the Mansourieh gas field as well, which may have a production capacity of 300 million standard cubic feet per day.[/size]
[size=45]The Iraqi Oil Ministry stated that it is in talks with Kogas Company to resume the crutch field development project, and that a new partner may be attracted in order to expedite the project's activities.[/size]
[size=45]In a statement on September 19, the Minister of Oil, Ihsan Ismail, said that the South Gas Company and the American Baker Hughes Energy Company are planning to develop a gas manufacturing project in Nasiriyah with a production capacity of 200 million cubic feet per day, after a three-year delay.[/size]
[size=45]The project will manufacture associated gas from the Nasiriyah and Gharraf fields in Dhi Qar Governorate. Iraq also signed a contract with the French company Total to implement projects worth 27 billion dollars, including a gas collection project worth 2 billion dollars.[/size]
[size=45]The gas collection network in the Al-Ratawi field with the processing units will have a collection capacity of approximately 600 million cubic feet of associated gas per day. The project will also produce 12,000 barrels per day of condensate gas with 3,000 metric tons of liquid gas per day for use in the local market.[/size]
[size=45]And Oil Minister Ismail, during a press conference on September 5, said that the gas project will help reduce dependence on gas imports from Iran, as well as reduce the burning of liquid fuel used in electric power plants. The minister added at the time that Iraq pays Iran about $8 per million thermal units of gas, while the Ratawi project can produce gas at a cost of only $1.50 to $2 per million thermal units.[/size]
[size=45]With accelerating the implementation of gas production projects locally, Iraq expects to end its dependence on gas imports by 2024-2025. It is noteworthy that Baghdad is under US pressure to reduce its dependence on gas and electricity imported from Iran. Since 2018, Baghdad has received exceptions from Washington that allow it to continue importing energy from Iran, which has been under sanctions imposed by Washington since that year.[/size]
[size=45]• About Platts and Med Energy[/size]
[size=45]][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]