State-run firms to develop Iraqi gas field after ‘failure’ of int’l companies

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq’s state-run firms will develop a major gas field near the Iranian border after the “delay and failure” of international companies to resume work there, the country’s Oil Ministry said on Tuesday.

Minister Jabar al-Luaibi said in a statement that he had ordered state-sponsored petroleum companies in his ministry to develop Mansuriyah gas field.

Iraq's federal government had previously signed a 2001 deal with a group of companies led by Turkey’s state-run TPAO, South Korea’s Kogas, and the Kuwait Energy Company to develop the gas field located in the unstable province of Diyala.

In September, The Iraqi minister asked TPAO to resume its work after it halted operations in 2014 due to the emergence of the Islamic State (IS) in those areas.

TPAO failed to resume development work despite repeated requests from Baghdad, officials from the Oil Ministry told Reuters. The area remains unsecured as armed militants continue to launch insurgent attacks in the region, targeting security forces and power installations.

“We need to start gas production from Mansuriyah to feed the power stations and cope with electricity shortages,” an oil ministry official who is a part of a team overseeing Iraq’s gas output told Reuters.

The Iraqi government is planning to produce nearly 100 million cubic feet a day (mcf/d) in a year, which should later be boosted to 325 mcf/d in “coming years,” he added.

Asim Jihad, a spokesperson of Iraqi Oil Ministry, told Reuters that having state firms develop Mansuriyah field will help to produce gas needed for a nearby power station and cut the imports of fuel which puts a heavy load on the country’s budget.

Lack of public services in Iraq in general, and electricity supply for the sweltering summer in particular, have sparked a series of protests in the central and southern provinces of the country for nearly a month, including Baghdad.

Editing by John J. Catherine