Page 11 - MEOG Week 43 2022

MEOG PROJECTS & COMPANIES MEOG

Start-up nears at

Iraq’s Akkas gas field

IRAQ IRAQ last week inaugurated a gas-fired power In November, Abdul Jabbar, who is also the
plant near the Akkas gas field, the country’s larg- head of the Iraqi National Oil Co. (INOC), said:
est non-associated or ‘free’ gas deposit. “Iraq is negotiating with [Aramco] to enter it as
According to a statement released by the Min- a partner in contracts for exploration and invest-
istry of Electricity, Minister Adel Kareem held a ment of free gas in the new fields in the West-
ceremony to launch operations at the 250-MW ern Desert. The results of those negotiations are
facility that was originally built in 2013. Having being studied by experts from the two countries”
been damaged during the IS insurgency in 2014, ahead of settling the terms for long-term agree-
rehabilitation works were carried out in 2020. ments that “satisfy aspirations and interests of
It will be connected to Akkas by a 30-km, both countries”.
16-inch (406mm) pipeline under development He added that the MoO has kicked off 2D
by the State Company for Oil Projects (SCOP) and 3D seismic surveys across the provinces of
and Iraq Oil Report said this week that state- Anbar and Nineveh.
owned companies are preparing for the launch In mid-2020, Finance Minister and then
of the field. acting Oil Minister Ali Allawi said that Saudi
Officials were quoted as saying that output firms would be allowed to invest in Akkas and in
from the asset could begin flowing by the end of late May, little-known Saudi firm Delta Oil was
October, with gas to be trucked until processing reported to be under consideration as a partner
facilities are in place to handle flows. in the project.
A contract is yet to be settled with an interna- Abdul Jabbar noted that a consortium led by
tional partner for Akkas, though, despite an US US oilfield services specialist Schlumberger was
services firm having long been eyed for the role. in pole position to take over Akkas, with Bagh-
In April, then Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jab- dad planning to terminate an agreement with
bar said that the cabinet was considering reacti- Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS).
vating a deal with US oilfield services specialist The field, which is estimated to contain a
Halliburton that would provide the Ministry of total resource of 5.6 trillion cubic feet (159bn
Oil (MoO) with data required for a decision to cubic metres) of gas and recoverable reserves of
be taken on whether or not to proceed with the around 3-3.5 tcf (85-99 bcm), is located around
development of Akkas. He said that the contract 30 km from the Syrian border in the restive
with Halliburton would include testing that Western Desert.
could influence the naming of an operator. A technical services contract (TSC) for its
In February, Abdul Jabbar told a meeting of development was awarded to a joint venture (JV)
the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) between KOGAS and Kazakhstan’s KazMunai-
in Doha that the planned deal with Halliburton Gas (KMG) during Iraq’s 2010 licensing round,
would cover the cost of development, potentially with the partners to receive a remuneration fee of
alongside state-backed Saudi Aramco. The US $5.50 per barrel of oil equivalent (boe).
and Saudi firms are collaborating on the devel- With development costs estimated at $3bn,
opment of the Jafurah gas deposit in the King- production was anticipated reaching 400mn
dom’s Eastern Province. cubic feet (11.3mn cubic metres) per day, but
Talks between the MoO and its Saudi coun- progress by KOGAS and Turkish partner TPAO
terpart have been ongoing since 2017, with the has been limited. This has largely been caused
development of gas reserves in Iraq’s Western by its location in the north-western Anbar gov-
Desert and the Nebras petrochemical project ernorate, a long-time stronghold of IS until its
apparently key to proceedings. expulsion in late 2017.™

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