Iraq aims for gas self-sufficiency in five years; US pushes for investment

Iraq, steadily working toward energy independence by 2030, has said it will be self-reliant in gas in five years.

The United States has "commended Iraq's commitment to achieve energy independence by 2030," according to a Sept. 23 statement issued by US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller. In the same statement, Miller also said reopening the Iraq-Turkey pipeline is key to encouraging foreign investment in Iraq's energy sector.

Iraq has moved closer to its self-sufficiency goal, saying they no longer need to import gas oil and "white oil," according to the country's Ministry of Oil Sept. 23 statement carried by state news agency INA.

Iraq will likely depend on further foreign investment to rein in gas flaring and boost gas production, and the US would like to see that gap filled by Western investors.

Iraq, as a result of widescale gas flaring, is still reliant on electricity imports from neighboring Iran – a practice the US would like to see end.

To achieve this, the US is trying to drum up investment interest from the West into the Gulf country. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani met with the Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York where Blinken underscored America's commitment to "support a stable, secure, and sovereign Iraq that benefits the people of Iraq and the broader region," according to a State Department statement.

This is Sudani's second visit to the US this year, the first of which in April ended in a flurry of deals signed with US companies, including GE Vernova and Baker Hughes, to increase gas production and cut down on gas flaring in Iraq, one of the world's worst committers of the practice.

In June, Sudani said that Iraq was producing 3.1 Bcf gas per day, up from 2.9 Bcf in 2022. The development at the Mansooriya field is expected to begin soon, providing 300 MMcf/d of gas in four-to-five years, which will further increase production. In May, it was announced that Iraq's Midland Oil Company will form a consortium with Petro Iraq and Chinese company Jera to develop the Mansooriya gas field.

"We have a project of about 200 MMcf in Basra, the same in Nasiriyah, and 150 [MMcf] in the Nahr Bin Omar field, in addition to developing an integrated gas project and referring it to Total, which will collect gas from five important fields in the south, with a capacity of 600 MMcf in two phases, each phase 300 million," Iraq's Deputy Minister of Oil for Extraction Affairs, Basem Mohammed Khudair was quoted saying on Sept. 18 by the state media.

Total heads a consortium that includes the Iraqi government, Basrah Oil Company and QatarEnergy on projects to recover flared gas on three oil fields to supply gas to power generation plants.

The country faces frequent power outages, especially during the hot summer months, that have previously led to protests. Iraq is working to wean itself off gas and electricity imports from Iran, which are subject to US sanctions and require regular sanctions waivers from Washington.