Expert calls on the government to invest in gas: Importing costs us billions of dollars

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[size=52]Expert calls on the government to invest in gas: Importing costs us billions of dollars[/size]

[size=45]Energy economist Kofid Sherwani called on the government to expedite the implementation of projects to isolate gas associated with oil extraction operations, while pointing out that importing natural gas from countries costs Iraq billions of dollars.[/size]
[size=45]Sherwani said, "Iraq has huge reserves of natural gas amounting to 132 trillion standard cubic feet," indicating that "associated gas isolation projects in the southern fields must be expedited so that they can be used to operate power plants."[/size]
[size=45]Sherwani added, “These projects were supposed to be expedited more than ten years ago so that Iraq could reach the stage of self-sufficiency and dispense with importing natural gas and electricity from any other source.”[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out that “the rate of gas flaring in Iraq has decreased from 40% to 35%, according to the statements of the Ministry of Oil, the cessation of gas flaring will be within three years, while self-sufficiency in natural gas will be within five years.” He noted that “this will save the state billions of dollars, up to 4 or 5 billion dollars spent annually on importing natural gas and electricity.”[/size]
[size=45]“The reason for the interruptions in the natural gas imported to Iraq is that the areas from which gas is supplied by countries are originally in need of gas, and this need increases in some seasons, because this gas is used in power stations and equipping some factories, as they represent the final areas in the distribution network, so there is always little flow and many stops, and this causes interruptions that directly affect the supply of electrical energy, some of whose stations depend on imported Iranian gas in the amount of 50 million cubic meters per day,” he continued.[/size]
[size=45]The energy economics expert explained that “the United States has imposed restrictions within the sanctions imposed on Iran, while it has imposed restrictions on sending the financial equivalent for imported gas and electricity, and when these payments are delayed, Iran sometimes reduces or cuts off the supplied quantities as a form of pressure on the Iraqi government to pay the accumulated costs of the imported gas.” He stressed that “Iraq has already paid all of Iran’s dues for the price of gas and electricity, but despite that, we hope that the Ministry of Oil’s projects to isolate and invest in gas will be expedited to reach the stage of sufficiency, and to provide these amounts, and perhaps in the event of enhancing gas production capabilities, Iraq will reach the stage of exporting for the period after five years or a little more.”[/size]
[size=45]Last March, the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity announced that it had signed a contract to supply gas from Iran for a period of 5 years.[/size]
[size=45]The ministry said in a statement that its minister, Ziad Ali Fadel, signed a gas supply contract with the National Iranian Gas Company for a period of 5 years, with pumping rates reaching 50 million cubic meters per day, and its quantities vary according to the system’s needs in order to maintain the momentum of the production stations’ work, and to keep pace with peak loads and the increasing demand for electrical energy.[/size]
[size=45]The process of importing Iranian gas began about 8 years ago, with an average of 25 million cubic meters per day. The delay in import operations often occurs in the summer, which leads to a decline in energy production in Iraq to high levels, and causes major problems for the government due to the state of popular discontent and protests that accompanied that situation in quite a few years.[/size]
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