Page 7 - MEOG Week 32 2021
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MEOG PERFORMANCE MEOG
Iraq shifts focus to gas as Iranian supplies run down
IRAQ
IRAQ’S Ministry of Oil (MoO) is planning to push forward with efforts to develop the coun- try’s gas reserves as a reduction in Iranian gas supplies has put further strain on electricity production.
The Ministry of Electricity (MoE) said in a statement to the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) that flows of Iranian gas to the country had fallen by 12mn cubic metres per day, caus- ing a 2,600MW drop in generation capacity in the national grid.
Iranian gas flows to Central Iraq have fallen from 30mcm per day to 20mcm while the southern region has been receiving 5mcm per day, down from 17mcm. The MoE said it was in discussions with the MoO to compensate for the losses in order to maintain electricity generation.
Iraq has long been suffering from chronic shortages of electricity and has been reliant on Iranian gas to feed the grid, and thus US sanc- tions waivers.
In late June, Electricity Minister Majed Mahdi Hantoush resigned amid a string of power cuts across the country and a full shutdown of the power grid in the south of the country.
The irony is that Iraq is one of the world’s biggest flarers of associated gas and the country has been working to capture more gas that is
produced alongside oil.
Meanwhile, MEOG understands from
sources within the MoO that Baghdad is prepar- ing to launch a gas-focused bid round aimed at increasing flows of free gas.
A date has not yet been set for the bid round with the MoO focused on solidifying the oil sec- tor, which has recently been shaken up by efforts of IOCs to depart from long-term technical ser- vice contracts (TSCs).
While the bidding is likely to focus on new concessionsforgasE&P,Eniisalsobelievedtobe in talks to work on the Akkas gas field with Saudi Aramco continuing to be linked with collaborat- ing on the project. The Mansouriyah gas field is also up for grabs with Chevron Corp. still keen.
Oil production up
Despite the challenges of OPEC+ quotas, oil production across federal and Kurdish Iraq increased by 0.6% during July to reach 3.866mn barrels per day (bpd).
Unlike numerous previous months, the country managed to operate below its OPEC+ quota, which rose to 4.016mn bpd in July.
During August, the threshold will increase to 4.061mn bpd as the group begins easing com- bined production by 400,000 bpd per month.
Week 32 11•August•2021 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P7
