Iraq Inaugurates Associated Gas Processing Plant in Halfaya Oil Field

Prime Minister, Mr. Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani, opened the associated gas processing project in the Halfaya field in Maysan Governorate, with a capacity of 300 million standard cubic feet/day. Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs and Minister of Oil, Mr. Hayan Abdul Ghani, said in a speech during the opening ceremony that the completion and opening of the project.

Treating the gas produced in the Halfaya field with a capacity of three hundred cubic feet (one million standard cubic feet per day) represents an important addition to the industry and investment of gas associated with oil operations, stopping its burning, and converting it into useful energy that supports the energy sector in Iraq.

He pointed out that the gas processing project produced from the Halfaya oil field is one of the most important integrated projects that was achieved thanks to the directives and follow-up of the Prime Minister and the efforts of the joint management of the Halfaya field, which includes the Chinese Petrochemical Company and the Maysan Oil Company, which committed to the ministry’s plans and programmes.

The gas processing project produced in the Halfaya field in Maysan Governorate falls within the obligations of the Chinese company PetroGina (the field operator) within the contracts for oil licensing rounds, as the project’s design capacity is three hundred (measured) million standard cubic feet per day, and it consists of two units, each with a capacity of one hundred And fifty maqmaq.

The Minister of Oil continued that the goal of the project is to desalinate and dry the gas and then separate its basic components to obtain the following products:

- Dry gas, which is used to supply the national network to operate electrical power production stations in the governorate, which is the Amara Government Station and the Maysan Investment Station to generate more than (one thousand and two hundred) megawatts, according to the available capabilities and energies, in addition to the production of liquid gas that is used as cooking gas and as fuel for cars. With an initial capacity of between one thousand and one hundred and one thousand and two hundred tons per day, the project also contributes to the production of “gas condensates” with a production capacity of up to twenty thousand barrels per day, where it is mixed with the crude oil produced until it meets its marketing specifications.

This project also contributes to the production of sulfur as a by-product of gas processing operations, with a capacity of twenty to forty tons, as the sulfur is marketed through the Iraqi Oil Marketing Company (SOMO).

For his part, the Undersecretary for Gas Affairs, Mr. Ezzat Saber, confirmed that this project will contribute to stopping gas burning and preserving a clean environment, so that this forms part of the commitments of the government and the ministry and their tireless efforts to support the investment of associated and free gas and renewable energy. Saber added that the ministry has succeeded in investing (61%) of associated gas, and it is hoped that the investment rate will reach (78%) by the end of the year, and the Ministry is proceeding with projects to invest associated gas in oil fields, as part of its plans to stop burning it and transform it into useful energy.