Latest news with #HamzaAbdulBaqi
Bloomberg
11-03-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Iraq Seeks Its First-Ever LNG Cargoes as Supply Concerns Loom
Iraq is looking to buy cargoes of liquefied natural gas for the first time as it faces uncertainty over supply from Iran, raising the prospect of electricity shortages. The country is in broad talks with companies to secure a specialized vessel to use as a floating LNG import terminal, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the discussions were confidential. It includes a plan with a UAE-based firm to bring in both LNG supply and floating terminal, Hamza Abdul Baqi, director general of Iraq's South Gas Co, said in an interview.
Reuters
10-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Exclusive: After US move on Iraq-Iran power trade, Baghdad looks to replace Iranian gas
BASRA, Iraq, March 10 (Reuters) - After the U.S. moved to block Iraq's imports of electricity from Iran, Baghdad is looking to Qatar and Oman as possible options should Washington do the same regarding their trade in gas, the boss of Iraq's South Gas Company said on Monday. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Saturday rescinded a sanctions waiver that since 2018 has allowed Iraq to pay Iran for electricity as it presses on with its "maximum pressure" campaign against Tehran, a State Department spokesperson said. But their far larger cross-border trade is in gas. Baghdad currently receives up to 50 million cubic metres of gas per day from Iran depending on its needs under a five-year deal extension signed in March 2024. Iraq pays $4-5 billion per year to Iran for gas imports, according to Iraqi energy officials. Iraq's electricity minister said the potential loss of gas imports from Iran would reduce Iraq's daily electricity output of 27,000 megawatts by a third. To mitigate the impact of a potential loss of Iranian gas imports, Iraq will lease a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, Hamza Abdul Baqi, head of the state-owned SGC, told Reuters. "This measure was taken due to the (potential) cut-off of Iranian gas. The government has tasked the Ministry of Oil with finding alternatives," Abdul Baqi said. A deal for the LNG terminal will be signed with UAE-based Breeze Investment (BI) at the end of March, he said, adding he expected it to be operational by mid-year to handle gas from Qatar and Oman. He said the terminal would be based at the port of Khor al-Zubair on the Gulf and the gas piped via a 45-kilometre (28-mile) pipeline already under construction to a supply point near the southern city of Basra, where Iraq drills much of its oil. It will be able to supply at least 500 million cubic feet (14 million cubic metres) of gas per day, he added, or about a third of Iran's current supply.
Iraqi News
06-03-2025
- Business
- Iraqi News
Oil: Our gas production reaches 3100 cubic feet per day
Basra - INA The South Gas Company, affiliated with the Ministry of Oil, confirmed today, Thursday, that gas production in all of Iraq exceeded 3100 million standard cubic feet per day (mcf), while clarifying the rates of investment of associated gas from it. The company's general manager, Hamza Abdul Baqi, explained in a statement to the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "the South Gas Company is concerned with investing the produced gas and converting it into energy before burning it," adding that "most of the gas produced is in the southern region, and gas production from associated gas from oil fields constitutes about 65% of the country's production.". He pointed out that "the South Gas Company and Basra Gas Company, in which the South Gas Company owns 51% of its shares, are working to invest in flared gas according to clear plans," indicating that "there are several promising future projects, most notably the Artawi project, which was signed with the French company Total, and aims to invest 600 million cubic feet from the specified fields, with the full investment to be completed by 2028.". He added that "there is another project in the Nasiriyah and Gharraf fields, implemented by Baker Hughes, and is expected to be completed by mid-2026, where all flared gas will be invested in the two fields," stressing that "the Nahr Bin Omar field will witness full investment in flared gas under an agreement signed with local companies.". Regarding the Maysan, central and northern fields, Abdul Baqi explained that "the associated gas from these fields needs processing and extraction operations to be usable in the energy sector."
