Custom Search

Belgium renews commitment to stabilization with new €1.4 million contribution

The Government of Belgium has contributed an additional €1.4 million (US$ 1.6 million) to the Funding Facility for Stabilization (FFS).

The critical funding will support stabilization efforts implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) across Iraq's five governorates in Anbar, Diyala, Kirkuk, Ninewa and Salah Al-Din.

This is the Kingdom of Belgium's seventh contribution to the FFS, bringing the country's total contribution to €13.52 million. With this generous additional funding, UNDP will be able to support the rehabilitation of critical infrastructure in the sectors of electricity, water and education.

"The impact of our collective stabilization efforts with continuous support from key international partners such as Belgium are clearly visible across Iraq. Schools are reopening, clean and potable water is reaching people, roads are linking people and homes are rehabilitated," says UNDP Resident Representative Zena Ali Ahmad.

"However, critical stabilization needs remain as 1 million people are still internally displaced, including the hardest-to-return populations. This contribution comes at a critical period for Iraq, as we look to safeguard the hard-won stabilization gains and prevent ISIL's resurgence," she adds.

"After winning the war, we must win the peace and address the root causes and consequences of Daesh's presence in the region. In this regard, building resilience for returnees and local communities in the sectors of electricity, water and education is critical to the long-term stability of the region. That is why Belgium is happy to confirm with this new contribution its full and continuous engagement in the stabilization process in Iraq since 2016," Axel Kenes, Director General for Multilateral Affairs and Globalization, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Belgium.

At the request of the Government of Iraq, UNDP established the FFS in 2015 to facilitate the return of displaced Iraqis, lay the groundwork for reconstruction and recovery, provide capacity support and safeguard against the resurgence of violence and extremism. The mandate was extended to 2023 due to the scale of urgent remaining stabilization needs and the request from the GOI and international partners to continue our interventions.

In 2021, FFS placed greater emphasis on utilizing an integrated approach that included promoting sustainable livelihood and employment opportunities by rehabilitating supportive infrastructure for productive sectors, such as agriculture and small industries.

(Source: UN)

By Muhammad Jawad Adib for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

Will Iran's electricity cut turn Iraq toward Gulf?

Iraq is facing reduced electricity and gas supplies from Iran, which might lead Iraq toward an electricity connection with the Gulf.

Click here to read the full article.

UK-based Aggreko has announced that it has completed commissioning of the largest flare-gas-to-power project in the Middle East to date at 165 MW capacity.

The plant is situated nearby the Saqala [Sarqala] Field, Garmain block, South East Kurdistan.

The 165 MW modular power plant has run at full capacity for 72 hours in the project's final site acceptance test (SAT), marking successful on-time, on-budget delivery.

The plant is run on approximately 40 million square cubic feet (SCF) per day of associated petroleum gas (APG) from the Saqala Field, saving 840 tonnes of CO2 per day, and cutting flaring by a third.

Delivered over the course of 2020-2021 against the backdrop of the pandemic, the project was conceived and executed in close collaboration with Kurdistan's Ministry of National Resources (MNR) and Ministry of Electricity (MOE).

Aggreko also delivered a new 6km gathering pipeline to transport the APG to the power plant, and upgraded 7km of 33 kV and 33km of 132 kV overhead cables to new high tensile low sage (HTLS) conductors in order for the local distribution grid to handle the new power plant's full output.

Ahmed Mufti, Kurdistan Regional Government's Deputy Minister of Natural Resources (MNR) said:

"We worked with Aggreko to provide a creative solution to convert flare gas to power in a way that directly benefits the local population and the regional in general, while creating a positive environmental impact and improving air quality."

Phil Burns, Managing Director for Aggreko Middle East, comments:

"Kurdistan's Regional Government has been forward-thinking in looking for ways to capture and convert gas that would otherwise be flared, to unlock production and power the local economy. We are extremely proud to have worked with the Ministries to deliver the Middle East's largest flare gas to power project to date, while upgrading the local infrastructure to the lasting benefit of the community and businesses it serves."

The project is now contracted to run for four years, delivering power 24/7/365.

Built using 192 MW of modular gas generators, the plant can easily be scaled up or down in response to changing gas volumes.

Approximately 60 Aggreko engineers have delivered the project, with 80 local jobs created directly and indirectly for the site's delivery and ongoing operation, including 44 local nationals who have already commenced Aggreko's official training scheme.

More here.

(Source: Aggreko)

By John Lee.

Iraq and Saudi Arabia have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to link their power grids.

It was signed by Saudi Arabia's Minister of Energy, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, and Iraq's Minister of Electricity, Adel Karim.

The Secretary-General of Iraq's Council of Ministers, Dr. Hamid Naim Al-Ghazi [Hamed Al Gazi], called on the Saudi Ministry of Energy to send a technical delegation to Baghdad next week to finalise the details of the interconnector, and to hold workshops with the Iraqi side.

(Sources: Iraqi Cabinet, INA, Gulf News)

By John Lee.

The President of  the Iraqi National Oil Company (INOC) has laid the foundation stone for the $594-million crude oil processing plant at Block 9, within the Al-Fayha Oil Field in Basra Province.

Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar Ismail said that the development is important for the production of light oil, with a target for this project of up to 100,000 barrels of crude oil per day, along with 135 mmscfd of gas at a future stage for electricity production.

Khaled Hamza, General Manager of Basra Oil Company (BOC), said the development of the field was started in 2014 by Kuwait Energy Company (KEC) and continued by the Chinese company UEG [United Energy Group] which acquired KEC, and that the first exploration well was drilled and the results were encouraging.

He stressed that the oil produced from the exploration Block 9 is one of the best types of oil globally.

The CEO of UEG, Sonk Yu [Song Yu, Chief Operation Officer??], said that laying the foundation stone for the development was an important moment for the company.

(Sources: Ministry of Oil, UEG)

By John Lee.

The Chinese company Sinopec (China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation) has signed a deal to develop the Mansuriyah gas field in Diyala.

The field, near the Iranian border, is expected to produce 300 million standard cubic feet (Mmscf) per day of gas, which will be used for electricity generation and "various industrial projects".

With an area of 150 km2 and gas reserves estimated at 4.5 trillion standard cubic feet, Mansuriyah is the second largest gas field in Iraq, after the Akkas field in Anbar Province.

Sinopec will have a 49-percent interest in the field, with Iraq's state-owned Midland [Middle, Central] Oil Company having 51 percent.

Previous information suggested that the contract will run for 25 years, and may be extended for an additional five years.

In 2010, an agreement had been signed for the field to be developed by Turkish Petroleum (TPAO) (37.5%), Iraqi Oil Exploration Company (25%), Kuwait Energy (KEC) (22.5%), and Kogas (15%). This consortium stopped development in 2014 due to security concerns, and the agreement was reportedly cancelled in 2020.

The signing follows the initial announcement of the award in April 2021. At the ceremony, the Minister for Oil clarified that the "final" contract will need to be signed by the next government.

(Source: Ministry of Oil)

By John Lee.

Australia's SBS News has published CCTV footage purporting to show the explosion that temporarily closed the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline earlier this week.

It appears to show an electricity pylon falling on the pipeline.

According to Kurdish news agency Rudaw, a group affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) had claimed responsibility for the attack.

Click here to view.

(Sources: SBS News, Rudaw)

By John Lee.

Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi has confirmed that more than half a million plots of land have been allocated for three million citizens under the "Dari" housing initiative.

Applications for the scheme were made via an online process.

Addressing the Cabinet, al-Kadhimi said that a plan has been made to provide the sites with services such as potable water, sewage network, electricity, internet and roads.

He added that about 186,000 plots have already been distributed to citizens.

(Source: Iraqi Cabinet)

Dana Gas and its partner, Crescent Petroleum, have reported record sales gas production from their operations in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), reaching 452 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMscf/d) at the end of 2021.

The production milestone is the culmination of numerous process improvements at the Khor Mor gas plant, including a bypass project completed in 2020 as well as a de-bottlenecking programme earlier in 2018. Together, the process improvements have grown the production by 50% from 305 MMscf/d in 2018.

Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum jointly operate the Khor Mor and Chemchemal gas fields on behalf of the Pearl Petroleum consortium, supplying the gas which enables much needed electricity generation in the KRI, and also producing close to 16,000 barrels of condensate and 1,000 tonnes of LPG per day. The successful process improvements will be reinforced by the KM250 expansion project at the plant which is currently under implementation, and will increase total capacity by an additional 55% to 700 MMscf/d by April 2023.

Major works for the US$630 million KM250 expansion project resumed in April, 2021 after a delay of one year due to the COVID pandemic. The project is now on track for the new target start date of April 2023. As part of the expansion works, the Company is also preparing to drill up to five development wells, which are scheduled to commence production in March 2022.

The KM250 Gas Expansion Project is supported by a $250 million financing agreement for 7 years with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) which was announced in September 2021. After completion of the KM250 project, the partners also plan a further KM500 train that would raise production to almost 1 billion cubic feet per day to meet rising demand for cleaner burning natural gas and electricity generation in the Kurdistan Region and all of Iraq.

Majid Jafar, CEO of Crescent Petroleum and Board Managing Director of Dana Gas, said:

"The achievement of this production milestone underscores the progress we continue to make at Khor Mor to meet the rapidly growing demand for natural gas in the KRI. Despite the challenges the whole world has faced over the past two years, we are proud to have continued delivering uninterrupted supply of clean-burning natural gas to support the KRI economy and enable a healthy recovery. Meanwhile our major expansion plans at the Khor Mor and Chemchemal fields to target 1 billion cubic feet per day in the coming few years will enable improved services across the region for years to come."

Dr Patrick Allman-Ward (pictured), CEO of Dana Gas, said:

"This milestone is testament to our people and their hard work making consistent production growth possible at our Khor Mor gas plant. Our continued investments since 2018, notably the Khor Mor de-bottlenecking and bypass projects, have allowed us to deliver reliable supplies of clean energy to support the KRI economy and its people, with enhanced economic and environmental benefits which will increase as we further grow production."

Total investment by the Pearl Petroleum consortium exceeds US$2.3 billion to date, with total cumulative production of over 360 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) of natural gas and liquids. The uninterrupted supply of gas to power plants in Erbil, Chemchemal and Bazian provides over 80% of the KRI's power generation and has resulted in significant fuel cost savings through substitution of diesel representing both environmental and economic benefits for the Kurdistan Region and Iraq as a whole.

The displacement of diesel fuel for power generation in the KRI with gas has also enabled emissions savings of 42 million tonnes of CO2, thereby making a major contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing local air pollution in the region as well as supporting the transition to better energy sources to tackle global climate change.

(Source: Dana Gas)

Finland Renews Commitment to Stabilization With New Contribution

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Iraq welcomes an additional EUR 1.5 million (US$ 1.7 million) contribution from the Government of Finland to its flagship programme the Funding Facility for Stabilization (FFS).

The critical support will bolster ongoing efforts to stabilize the five governorates liberated from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Since 2015, the FFS has supported over 3,000 projects, restoring essential services, supporting livelihoods, building municipal capacity and fostering cohesion in areas liberated from ISIL.

"UNDP's ability to deliver to the highest standard at speed and scale makes us the development partner of choice. This would not be possible without the continuous and generous support from international partners such as the Government of Finland," says UNDP Resident Representative for Iraq, Zena Ali Ahmed.

"However, critical stabilization needs remain as over 1 million people are still internally displaced, including the hardest-to-return populations. The Government of Finland's contribution  comes at an important time in Iraq's recovery from years of conflict, as the country looks to safeguard the hard-won stabilization gains and prevent ISIL's resurgence," adds Ms. Ali Ahmad.

"Finland has been supporting the Facility since 2016 and we are proud to renew our commitment. UNDP and its partners have achieved many concrete results during these years, but Iraq still faces a multitude of challenges. Finland is a long-standing and solutions-oriented partner to Iraq," says Ville Skinnari, Finland's Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade.

To date, FFS projects are estimated to have benefitted more than 6 million individuals in the target areas with 17.5 million benefits accruing to them, mostly in Ninewa and Salah al-Din, and in sectors such as electricity, health and water.

(Source: UN)