ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq has significantly reduced gas flaring through new investment projects, with utilization rates up 17 percentage points from three years ago, Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani said on Friday.
“The gas utilization rate in Iraq increased from 53 percent in 2022 to 60 percent in 2023, and reached 68 percent in 2024, while it currently stands at 70 percent. This rate means a 17 percent decrease in gas flaring during the government's [current] term,” Abdul Ghani told Rudaw.
He detailed several key gas investment projects that have been completed or are underway: Akkas field in Anbar with 60 million cubic feet per day, Halfaya field in Amarah with 300 million cubic feet per day, the Basra Gas Liquefaction Plant, Phase One (BNGL1) with 200 million cubic feet per day, the Basra Gas Liquefaction Plant, Phase Two (BNGL2) with 200 million cubic feet per day, the Al-Fayha field in Basra with 130 million cubic feet per day, and East Baghdad field with 15 million cubic feet per day.
Iraq is one of the worst culprits globally when it comes to flaring natural gas, a practice that is harmful to public health and the environment.
The Oil Ministry is also advancing renewable energy projects, including a 1,000-megawatt solar power initiative in cooperation with France’s TotalEnergies, Abdul Ghani said.
“The first phase of the project, with a capacity of 250 megawatts, will be completed by the end of 2025,” he said.
TotalEnergies is also a key investor in Iraq’s energy sector through the $27 billion South Iraq Integrated Project - the largest foreign investment in the country’s history. The company operates in the Artawi field in Basra and the Halfaya field in Maysan. In March, TotalEnergies managing director Dunia Chalabi told Rudaw that the project should reach “full operational readiness” by 2027.
The minister also highlighted Iraq’s first export of liquefied natural gas (LNG), announcing that the largest LNG tanker, GasChem, was recently loaded at the Basra Gas Export Terminal with up to 20,000 tons of gas.
Baghdad has been working to attract major international oil companies as part of its broader effort to expand and diversify the energy sector. Earlier this month, Abdul Ghani told Rudaw that Iraq wants to raise daily oil production from 4.4 million barrels to 5.5 million barrels by the end of this year.
The developments come as oil exports from the Kurdistan Region resumed earlier this month following a three-month agreement between Baghdad, Erbil, and international oil companies. Exports had been suspended since March 2023 after a Paris-based arbitration court ruled that Turkey violated a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to independently export oil.
The restart of exports has been widely welcomed by Iraqi and Kurdish officials, who hope it will pave the way for a lasting, comprehensive energy agreement between Baghdad and Erbil.
Malik Mohammed contributed to this report.
