Iraq Signs Agreement with American Company for Gas Extraction in Southern Fields

On Monday, Iraq signed a contract with an American company for the extraction of natural gas in its southern fields, described as a step towards utilizing the country's natural resources that have been overlooked for decades. According to an Associated Press report, Iraq has delayed the exploitation of its natural gas for a long time due to a lack of infrastructure, but the memorandum of understanding signed on Monday allows the American energy company 'Orion' to extract and process up to 150 million cubic feet of gas daily from the 'Nahr Bin Umar' field. This field currently has the capacity to produce 40,000 barrels of oil and 25 million cubic feet of gas daily. During the signing ceremony of this memorandum, Jabbar al-Luiebi, Iraq's Minister of Oil, described this action as an important step to end the waste of the country's natural resources. As reported by the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, preliminary contracts in this regard were finalized a month ago, and both parties officially concluded this memorandum on Monday. Iraq is rebuilding its oil and gas industry infrastructure, and officials in the country have negotiated with American companies like Exxon and companies from China to expand oil and gas extraction activities. Last week, Iraq signed a contract with British Petroleum to double crude oil production in the northern Kirkuk area. This oil field came back under the control of the Iraqi central government a few months ago after a controversial independence referendum in the Kurdistan region that was strongly opposed by Baghdad. The Kirkuk oil fields, which produce 140,000 barrels of crude oil daily, were taken from the control of Islamic State militants by Kurdish forces in 2014.