Iraq signs agreement with Orion to process natural gas from southern oilfield

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraq has announced signing an agreement with the U.S. firm Orion to invest in natural gas extracted from an oilfield, located south of Iraq, and turn into usable fuel.
The memorandum of understanding signed between the Iraqi Ministry of Oil and the U.S. firm representatives allows building facilities to capture the gas from Nahr bin Omar oilfield in Basra province, Reuters reported.

The ministry has not revealed yet the volume of investments in the oilfield or the expected revenues.

Earlier this month, the ministry announced reaching an agreement Orion to invest in the associated natural gas from the southern oilfield, operated by the state-run Basra Oil Company, which produces more than 40,000 barrels of crude oil and 25 million cubic feet of gas daily. This came after the minister Jabbar al-Luaibi urged the US oil companies to compete for the investment projects offered by the ministry.

In November, the ministry called on international companies to bid for investments to look for, develop and produce oil and gas in nine regions in Iraq.

Iraq has oil reserves of around 137 trillion cubic feet of gas. 70 percent of the Iraqi gas is associated with oil. Iraq ranks the eleventh among countries rich in natural gas.

Luaibi said, in September, his country seeks stopping the gas flaring by mid-2021, which makes revenues of more than US$ six billion annually.