Basrah Gas Company (BGC) aims to complete its 400mn cfd BNGL expansion project by January 2024 at the latest. While this is two years behind the schedule planned when BGC took FID in early 2019 (MEES, 15 February 2019), a delay which can in large part be attributed to Covid-19, it will provide the government with a significant boost. Especially as the first 200mn cfd phase is set to start up in June, just as Iraq’s summer power demand starts to surge (MEES, 28 April).
Previous oil ministry plans to build gas processing capacity have faced multiple problems, from protracted contracting processes to the non-availability of finance. Baghdad has a project pipeline that could in theory deliver 1.5bn cfd by 2027 (see table), though this looks ambitious. (CONTINUED - 501 WORDS)
