Flaring natural
gas in Iraq is set to be addressed. The country is second only to Russia (and
Iran in 2023) in gas flaring. Iraq is responsible for 13% of global flared gas.
This gas can be captured and piped to natural gas power plants in the country. Iraq
has been importing natural gas from Iran since 2017. With new gas-capturing
projects, Iraq will be able to use its own gas to supply power plants and likely
reduce imports from Iran. As can be seen in the graph below, Iran and Russia
are poised to become the by-and-far leaders in gas flaring, once again being
exposed as irresponsible countries flouting international norms. If Iraq is
successful in reducing flaring to the levels planned, Russia and Iran alone will be responsible for about 40% of global flaring emissions. The graph
also shows that the U.S. has reduced flaring more than any other country since
2019. Nigeria has had some success in reducing flaring and that should
continue. As in many countries in the world, oil sales make up much of Iraqi
government revenue, about 95%. Dependence on fossil fuel sales for government revenue
shows the financial vulnerability of so many countries to any decrease in
fossil fuel use.
At the end of
2024, Iraq was capturing 67% of the natural gas from its oilfields. It aims to
increase that to 80% by the end of 2025 and to eliminate flaring entirely by
2027 (although I read 2028 and 2030 in other articles). A new project has broken ground
in Southern Iraq, headed by TotalEnergies (45%) with partners Basra Oil Company
(30%) and QatarEnergy (25%). According to the Journal of Petroleum Technology:
“TotalEnergies has broken ground on its $250 million
ArtawiGas25 processing project to begin capturing by year-end 2025 up to 50
MMcf/D of flared gas from the Ratawi oil field in southern Iraq and provide
power to some 200,000 households in the Basra region.”
“Agreed to in 2021 by TotalEnergies but stalled for 2
years amid a dispute over the amount of the Iraqi government’s share, the $10
billion GGIP multienergy project is designed to boost Iraq’s domestic gas and
electricity production while it weans the country off imports.”
“The 4-in-1 project includes the gas processing plant,
which, by 2027, is targeted to grow its recovery rate to 300 MMcf/D and
generate 1.5 GW of power, along with redevelopment of the Ratawi field and
construction of a 1-GW solar farm and seawater treatment plant to provide water
injection for pressure maintenance and increase oil production.”
“The modular design of the ArtawiGas25 plant is
envisioned for replication across other Iraqi oil fields, according to
TotalEnergies, which announced the groundbreaking on 10 January.”
To recap. Iraq flared about 33% of its gas at the end of
2024, expects to flare just 20% by the end of 2025, and plans to end the
practice altogether by 2030. At the end of 2024, Iraq was producing 3.12 BCF/day
and flaring 1.05 BCF/day. That should drop to 624MMCF/day by the end of 2025
which means that about 426 MMCF/day of now-flared gas is expected to be captured
by the end of the year. That new domestic gas would replace about 44% of Iraq’s
imports from Iran. That is a win-win-win, for Iraq, for the energy transition,
and for the companies involved which should realize a profit – I am guessing
the payout is about 5 years, give or take. That is based on TotalEnergies’
price for the project, the amount of gas they will capture, and the market
value of the gas (I used $3/MCF so it could vary quite a bit based on Iraqi market
prices).
In northern Iraq,
BP and the Iraqi government are finalizing a deal by early February that
includes capturing flared gas at oilfields near Kirkuk as well as increasing
production of both oil and natural gas with one goal being to eliminate gas
imports from Iran, which are often unreliable and have led to some electricity
outages. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) manages these fields in agreement
with the Iraqi government. Production in the region has declined in recent
years but the push to increase production, presumably with infill drilling and
exploration, combined with increased flare gas capture should help to get the
county off of imports.
A co-benefit of capturing flare gas is capturing other
post-combustion pollutants such as PM2.5, Ozone, NO2, and benzo(a)pyrene (BaP),
improving air quality. BaP levels in Kuwait have been measured at ten times E.U.
safe levels. According to World Bank data and BBC research:
“The biggest single source of flaring in the world is
from a giant Iraqi oil field called Rumaila, managed by BP and Petrochina. It
is in southern Iraq, just over 30km (20 miles) from the border with Kuwait.”
The BBC research found high PM2.5 levels adjacent to the
flares. The area is also subject to dust storms that severely degrade air
quality. Dr Barrak Alahmad, research fellow at Harvard T.H. Chan School of
Public Health and his team spent two years analyzing the air pollution in Kuwait
to determine the sources:
"Actually, what we found out is that only 40% comes
from the desert.”
"Forty-two percent comes from sources that involve
power plants, and involve the oil industry, and involves all the industry that
is in Kuwait and outside of Kuwait."
High levels of traffic in the country are responsible for much of the remaining pollution (18%?). Since Iraq, like several other countries, burns petroleum and distillates in a lot of its power plants, the bulk of the industrial emissions likely comes from burning oil and derivatives rather than natural gas.
References:
TotalEnergies
Builds Processing Plant To Reduce Flaring at Iraq’s Ratawi Oil Field. Pat Davis
Szyczak. Journal of Petroleum Technology. January 13, 2025. TotalEnergies
Builds Processing Plant To Reduce Flaring at Iraq’s Ratawi Oil Field
Iraq
Plans to Slash Gas Flaring. Charles Kennedy. OilPrice.com. December 26, 2024. Iraq
Plans to Slash Gas Flaring | OilPrice.com
Iraq
gas flaring clean-up essential for climate goals: experts. Miriam Malek. Gas
Outlook. May 27, 2024. Gas
Outlook | Iraq gas flaring clean-up essential for climate goals: experts - Gas
Outlook
BP
Nears Deals For Oil Fields, Curbs On Gas Flaring In Iraq. AFP - Agence France
Presse. January 15, 2025. BP
Nears Deals For Oil Fields, Curbs On Gas Flaring In Iraq | Barron's
Country
Analysis Brief: Iraq. Last Updated: February 14, 2024. Next Update: February
2025. Energy Information Administration. Country
Analysis Brief: Iraq
Toxic
gas putting millions at risk in Middle East, BBC finds. Owen Pinnell, Sarah
Ibrahim and Esme Stallard. BBC Arabic. November 28, 2023. Toxic gas putting
millions at risk in Middle East, BBC finds
No comments:
Post a Comment