Iraqi oil minister declares unprecedented rise in Basra gas investments
Iraq’s Oil Minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi talks to journalists during a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna, Austria, November 30, 2016. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraq’s oil minister Ali al-Luaibi has unveiled what he described as an “unprecedented increase” 80% in investments in associated natural gas in Basra Province.
In a letter to Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Luaibi said that “at the beginning of January 2018, and compared to the same month of last year, investment capabilities (at Basra Gas Project) will reach 900 million standard cubic feet a day”.
“There will be another increase in associated gas investments from the fields of the South Oil Company and the Maysan Oil Company a 230 standard cubic feet a day,” Luaibi said in the letter.
According to Luaibi, “that major achievement will boost the country’s capabilities to export liquid gas and gasoline…and will increase investors’ confidence in petrochemicals and fertilizers projects, thanks to the stable availability of the raw material needed for those industries: refined gas”.
Basra Gas Company, established in May 2013, is one of Iraq’s biggest gas companies, producing gas for the generation of electricity serving 17 million families, and employing 5500 Iraqis.