Iraq is struggling between the urge to become a regional – and eventually an international – player on the gas scene and the need to supply a domestic market whose demand for gas for power generation is expected to continue rising drastically. That urge is exacerbated by the KRG’s ability to conclude swift deals to export gas regardless of whether such deals – which, like exporting oil, would require state…
Tag: power plants
Electricity Woes
Baghdad – Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, while standing by his resigning minister of electricity Karim Wahid, blamed the latter for raising people’s expectations and promising quick solutions to the electricity problems. The truth is, he said, the situation will not improve until the projects to build new power plants and install turbines contracted from GE and Siemens are done within two years. But would they? Maliki is committing the…
Gas Challenge
The most recent bid round launched this month for the three gas fields of Akkas, Mansouriah and Siba, promises to be challenging for both sides; the Iraqi oil ministry and the international oil companies, not least because it involves a third party: the electricity sector. The non-associated gas to be produced from the three fields, estimated collectively at a minimum of 700 MMcf/d to 900 MMcf/d will be allocated as…