Kuwait Energy has started to extract natural gas from Siba, the first gas field to be brought on stream in the south of Iraq, according to an Iraqi oil executive cited by Arab News.
Siba has begun to produce gas at a rate of 25mn cubic feet a day, which should rise gradually to 100mn cubic feet per day by the end of 2018.
Kareem Abd Oda, the director general of the joint venture (JV) formed by Iraq and Kuwait Energy to develop the field, stated Siba, to the south of Basra, is producing natural gas and condensates
Iraq is planning to boost oil and gas production through JVs with Kuwaiti, Turkish and Egyptian firms. The semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government has started producing natural gas from fields in northern Iraq.
Iraq is set to hold an auction of oil and gas exploration contracts across 11 blocks located near the border with Iran and Kuwait and also offshore. The new contracts will include a clause that will set a time limit for companies to end gas flaring from the oilfields they develop. Iraq hopes to end the practice by 2021.
Iraq is the second-largest producer in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) after Saudi Arabia.
