Iraq plans to significantly reduce gas flaring starting next year, with the goal of completely eliminating the practice by the end of 2027, according to government officials.
As of late 2024, Iraq is capturing about 67% of the gas at its oilfields, said Ezzet Saber Ismael, the country’s deputy minister for gas affairs, in an interview with Bloomberg published Thursday.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Mohammed S. Al-Sudani led an energy policy meeting where officials discussed ongoing natural gas projects. The Prime Minister’s office stated that progress includes reducing gas flaring levels to 67%, with plans to increase this to 80% by the end of 2025 and fully eliminate it by 2027.
Iraq is among the top ten countries in the world for gas flaring, alongside nations like Russia, Iran, Algeria, Venezuela, the U.S., Mexico, Libya, and Nigeria, according to the World Bank’s Global Gas Flaring Tracker Report.
In recent months, Iraq has launched several initiatives to cut down on gas flaring, focusing on capturing and utilizing the natural gas rather than burning it off.
Despite being OPEC’s second-largest oil producer and a major crude oil exporter, Iraq still imports natural gas to meet its power needs, including supplies from Iran under a special U.S. waiver.
Last year, Iraq signed a significant agreement with France’s TotalEnergies to develop the Gas Growth Integrated Project (GGIP). The project aims to recover flared gas from three oil fields to supply power plants.
The U.S. State Department has expressed strong support for Iraq’s efforts, noting that reducing gas flaring by capturing methane would help cut emissions, improve public health, and provide more energy for Iraq’s electrical grid.
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