“Delayed financing and infrastructure”: Iraq faces challenges in expanding its gas stations

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[size=52]“Delayed financing and infrastructure”: Iraq faces challenges in expanding its gas stations[/size]

[size=45]As Iraq seeks to achieve sustainable economic development, it faces significant challenges in expanding its gas plants, ranging from technical and logistical issues to economic and political problems.[/size]
[size=45]On the technical front, Iraq faces difficulties in modernizing the old infrastructure and ensuring its ability to handle the expected increase in gas demand. On the economic front, expanding the stations requires huge investments, which is at odds with the country’s current financial situation.[/size]
[size=45]On the political front, internal tensions and regional conflicts complicate cooperation efforts with foreign companies and hinder the implementation of vital projects. In light of these challenges, Iraq must find innovative solutions and cooperate with international partners to enhance its ability to expand and strengthen the gas sector.[/size]
[size=45]Iraq launched the implementation works on the expansion projects of the Al-Haidariyah and Al-Najaf gas-fired power plants, with a combined cycle, with a total capacity of 495 MW, as well as the 400 KV transformer station project.[/size]
[size=45]Energy expert Saadoun Al-Asadi said, “The expansion of gas stations in Iraq faces several major obstacles,” pointing to “a lack of basic infrastructure such as pipelines and refining stations that need to be developed and modernized.”[/size]
[size=45]He added that “the financial challenges and securing the necessary investments for expansion may be a major obstacle,” noting that “the unstable security situation in some areas could negatively affect energy projects.”[/size]
[size=45]“The complexity of administrative procedures and licensing can delay or complicate the expansion process,” he explained, noting that “the use of outdated technologies may lead to poor efficiency and increase the cost of expansion.”
The energy specialist continued, “Adherence to environmental standards and regulatory requirements may add additional challenges to the expansion process,” stressing that “these obstacles may require multiple strategies to address them to ensure the successful implementation of the expansion.”[/size]
[size=45]Experts confirm that Iraq needs more than 7 billion dollars to set up stations to convert gas from liquefied gas to natural gas, along with extending a pipeline network to all stations operating in the country. This will take more than two years to complete.[/size]
[size=45]For his part, the Prime Minister’s media office stated in a statement that “these projects are part of the strategic agreement with the German Siemens, which includes two phases; the first for three stations in Najaf, Karbala and Baghdad, and the other phase includes two stations in Basra and Diyala, with a total capacity of up to 7,500MW, pointing out the importance of these projects for the electrical system, especially for Najaf, which faces a shortage in equipment compared to the level of electrical loads.[/size]
[size=45]He explained that “the government has placed services, including electricity, its repair and improvement, at the forefront of its goals, pointing to the work to provide fuel and invest in associated gas, and raise the efficiency of the transportation and distribution sectors, as well as improve work contexts and include an encouraging and beneficial economic type for the benefit of production and the citizen.”[/size]
[size=45]He stressed that "the wrong consumption policy needs to be reviewed because it affects the performance of the system, stressing the need to work on partnership with solid and efficient companies that have proven their effectiveness, and that these projects will contribute to relieving bottlenecks in the system, and distributing production and transportation."[/size]
[size=45]According to the statement, producing electrical energy through the combined cycle provides many advantages, the most important of which is that it will add new electrical capacity without the need for additional fuel, and invest the burned gas, in addition to saving billions of dollars annually by not consuming additional fuel.[/size]
[size=45]Negotiations between Iraq and Qatar to buy gas began during Haider al-Abadi’s government, but they stopped for many reasons, including the government’s preference to increase investment in gas associated with production and gas fields in Diyala and Anbar. However, until now, Iraq is still burning 1,214 “cubic meters” per day, and international companies have not shown interest in investing in gas fields.[/size]
[size=45]Earlier, the Iraqi Ministry of Oil announced the signing of a series of contracts with foreign companies in this regard, including the signing of a contract between the Central Oil Company and a coalition of the Chinese companies “Jera” and “Petro Iraq” to develop the Mansouriya gas field to reach a production of 100 million standard cubic feet per day within 18 months. It also confirmed that the agreement also aims to achieve peak production of 300 million standard cubic feet per day within four to five years.[/size]
[size=45]Experts point out that most of the Chinese companies that won the licensing rounds are not as advanced in oil technology as Western companies. It would have been better for the government to diversify its companies and hire Western companies as well.[/size]
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