Iraq will achieve self-sufficiency in gas within five to seven years, announced Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul-Ghani.
During an interview with Rudaw, Abdul-Ghani said Iraq might have a surplus of gas after it signed the fifth licensing round, which included five contracts and exploration blocks, all gas-producing in the range of 750 to 900 million cubic feet.
"Iraq is compliant with the Paris Agreement and the development of its gas in its entirety to stop the flaring of gas by 2030," he said, adding that the Ministry of Oil is keen to expedite the gas investment process.
"Today, we import large quantities of gas from our neighbor Iran, and we cannot continue to import gas while the gas in our fields is flared. The majority of gas available to us is associated gas, which comes from crude oil production," the Minister said.
"Within five years of activating the Total contract, there will be a stoppage of gas flaring from five oil fields," he said, as well as in other fields, such as Nahr Ibn Omar, which is covered in a contract to invest more than 150 million cubic feet.
Turning to oil, the minister said the objective was to fix and stabilize prices at around $80 per barrel.
Abdul-Ghani noted that Iraq would abide by previous oil production reductions. The first reduction took place at the beginning of the year, and the second in May.
The oil ministry in April announced that it was reducing production by 211,000 barrels per day starting from May and effective until the end of 2023, adding to the two million barrels per day cut already in effect since November of last year.
The minister renewed his country's position in preserving the unity and cohesion of the OPEC organization to maintain oil prices and ensure the availability of oil in global markets to meet energy needs.
