Iraq signed a major contract with US oilfield services company Schlumberger on Tuesday to develop the Akkas gas field, as the country seeks to boost domestic gas production.
Under the deal, Schlumberger will drill wells at the Akkas field, aiming to raise production levels to 100 million standard cubic feet per day, the country's Oil Minister, Hayan Abdel Ghani, said after the signing ceremony.
The production target from the field, in the western province of Anbar, is estimated at 400 million standard cubic feet per day, from the current 40 million level, he added, without giving a timetable.
“This is a long-awaited and big achievement,” the minister said. Additional contracts will be signed to build surface installations and lay pipelines connecting the wells to central processing units, he added.
The gas produced at Akkas will be used to fuel the Anbar combined cycle power plant, which is under construction by the Ministry of Electricity, Mr Abdel Ghani said.
Rights to develop the field were first awarded to South Korea's state-run Korea Gas in 2010. Kogas signed a deal to develop it in 2011 but withdrew when the field was captured by ISIS, then retaken by Baghdad in late 2017.
In 2024, Ukraine’s Ukrzemresurs was contracted to develop the field, but the government terminated the deal months later due to delays.
Despite being Opec’s second-biggest producer, Iraq is dependent on Iran for about a third of its electricity needs. It buys 50 million cubic metres of natural gas and 500 megawatts of electricity a day from Iran.
Baghdad has been under pressure from the US to wean itself off Iranian energy imports, which have been subject to US sanctions since 2018.
In recent years, Iraq has taken measures to develop its natural gas resources and reduce the shortfalls in the electricity sector. The country's natural gas reserves stand at about 3,714 billion cubic metres, according to oil ministry figures.
