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Jordan to Increase Gas Imports from Egypt

A plant's gas tanks are seen at the desert road of Suez city north of Cairo, Egypt. (Reuters file photo)
A plant's gas tanks are seen at the desert road of Suez city north of Cairo, Egypt. (Reuters file photo)
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Jordan to Increase Gas Imports from Egypt

A plant's gas tanks are seen at the desert road of Suez city north of Cairo, Egypt. (Reuters file photo)
A plant's gas tanks are seen at the desert road of Suez city north of Cairo, Egypt. (Reuters file photo)

Jordan announced on Tuesday that it was seeking to increase its natural gas imports from Egypt to cover a third of its demands.

Hala Zawati, Jordanian minister of energy and mineral resources, estimated Jordan’s gas demands in 2019 at around 350 million cubic feet per day.

“Jordan started receiving natural gas from Egypt since September. It’s on (an) experimental basis for the pipeline but we hope in the beginning of 2019 to increase these amounts,” she told reporters.

Jordan began importing natural gas from Egypt two months ago but increasing imports significantly would depend on construction of a pipeline between Jordan and Iraq which has yet to be built.

“We have not yet agreed with Egypt. Now there are negotiations on how much will be pumped but we hope at least one third of the country’s requirements will be taken from Egypt,” she added, without giving a timeframe for reaching that goal.

Asked about the pipeline which will eventually connect the southern city of Basra in Iraq with Jordan’s Red Sea port of Aqaba, Zawati said: “We’ve had discussions with Iraq that started years ago. It was approved by the Jordanian cabinet, and now we are waiting for the Iraqi side to start working on the pipeline.”

“It’s still there as an idea but has not (yet) materialized... the political situation did not allow for that pipeline to materialize.”

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BP Nears Deals for Oil Fields, Curbs on Gas Flaring in Iraq

British Prime Minster Keir Starmer (L) welcomes Prime Minister of Iraq Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
British Prime Minster Keir Starmer (L) welcomes Prime Minister of Iraq Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
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BP Nears Deals for Oil Fields, Curbs on Gas Flaring in Iraq

British Prime Minster Keir Starmer (L) welcomes Prime Minister of Iraq Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
British Prime Minster Keir Starmer (L) welcomes Prime Minister of Iraq Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, 14 January 2025. (EPA)

Iraq and British oil giant BP are set to finalize a deal by early February to develop four oil fields in Kirkuk and curb gas flaring, Iraqi authorities announced Wednesday.

The mega-project in northern Iraq will include plans to recover flared gas to boost the country's electricity production, they said.

Gas flaring refers to the polluting practice of burning off excess gas during oil drilling. It is cheaper than capturing the associated gas.

The Iraqi government and BP signed a new memorandum of understanding in London late Tuesday, as Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and other senior ministers visit Britain to seal various trade and investment deals.

"The objective is to enhance production and achieve optimal targeted rates of oil and gas output," Sudani's office said in a statement.

Iraq's Oil Minister Hayan Abdel Ghani told AFP after the new accord was signed that the project would increase the four oil fields' production to up to 500,000 barrels per day from about 350,000 bpd.

"The agreement commits both parties to sign a contract in the first week of February," he said.

Ghani noted the project will also target gas flaring.

Iraq has the third highest global rate of gas flaring, after Russia and Iran, having flared about 18 billion cubic meters of gas in 2023, according to the World Bank.

The Iraqi government has made eliminating the practice one of its priorities, with plans to curb 80 percent of flared gas by 2026 and to eliminate releases by 2028.

"It's not just a question of investing and increasing oil production... but also gas exploitation. We can no longer tolerate gas flaring, whatever the quantity," Ghani added.

"We need this gas, which Iraq currently imports from neighboring Iran. The government is making serious efforts to put an end to these imports."

Iraq is ultra-dependent on Iranian gas, which covers almost a third of Iraq's energy needs.

However, Teheran regularly cuts off its supply, exacerbating the power shortages that punctuate the daily lives of 45 million Iraqis.

BP is one of the biggest foreign players in Iraq's oil sector, with a history of producing oil in the country dating back to the 1920s when it was still under British mandate.

According to the World Bank, Iraq has 145 billion barrels of proven oil reserves -- among the largest in the world -- amounting to 96 years' worth of production at the current rate.