Iraq to stop gas imports by 2027
Gas flare burning in the Zubair-1 storage zone of the Zubair oilfield, southwest of Basra in southern Iraq. Photo: AFP
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Member of the Parliamentary Oil and Gas Committee, Alaa Al-Haidari, revealed on Tuesday that Iraq will reach self-sufficiency in gas and stop imports by 2027.
Al-Haidari told Shafaq News that the annual cost of Iraq’s gas imports, which are required to run power plants that produce electricity, is about five billion dollars.
The Iraqi lawmaker indicated that the new rounds of oil and gas licensing announced by the Iraqi Ministry of Oil will contribute to increasing the quantities of natural gas extracted from Iraqi fields in the coming years.
Iraq wants to attract investments worth billions of dollars to grow its oil and gas industry while attempting to boost its petrochemical production and cut off Iranian gas imports, which are now necessary to generate electricity.
More than 20 European, Chinese, Arab, and local oil companies participated in a bid for oil and gas concessions.
In a licensing round last Saturday, contracts to explore oil and gas in five fields in Iraq were awarded to Chinese companies. The primary goal of the event was to increase local gas output.
The gas expected to be produced from this licensing round will be about 800 million standard cubic meters per day.
The licensing round is expected to add about 800 million standard cubic meters of gas per day to Iraq’s local production.