The tragic reality of Iraq's gas sector has put pressure on government officials to change their approach to the exploitation of their country’s natural resources. In this regard, Oil Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi announced in a March 15 interview posted on the ministry’s website, “In the first licensing round, companies were not compelled to extract associated gas. But starting with the second round of licensing, provisions have been added to compel contractors to extract said gas.”
He also said, “In 2015, we achieved an exploitation ratio of 50% of the 3 billion cubic feet of associated natural gas extracted daily. Free gas production rose from a maximum of 600 billion cubic feet per day in 2013-2014 to a maximum of 1.1 trillion cubic feet per day in recent months. In addition, during the same period, liquid gas production increased from a maximum 4,300 tons per day to 5,000 tons per day in recent months.”
In that context, the Basrah Gas project, launched in 2011 by the Iraqi government in partnership with Royal Dutch Shell and Japan’s Mitsubishi, began operations in 2013. It is one of the largest associated gas extraction and processing projects in the world, representing the cornerstone of Iraq's effort to exploit its gas resources more efficiently.
The World Bank, which oversees a global initiative to reduce the volume of gas burned, presented an appreciation award to the Basrah Gas Co. in October for its efforts in this regard. The bank also awarded the Iraqi Oil Ministry for similar efforts, recognizing Iraq's advances in reforming its gas sector.
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