Vedant Patel, the Deputy Spokesperson for the US State Department, welcomed the 'important' steps taken by the Iraqi government to reduce its dependence on energy imports from Iran on Thursday. Patel made these remarks in response to a question about Jeffrey Pyatt, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Energy, visiting Iraq. The Deputy Spokesperson stated, 'Assistant Secretary Pyatt's visit reflects the important steps we believe Iraq is taking to ensure its energy independence, and these efforts are crucial for Iraq to end its imports of Iranian natural gas and fulfill its commitments under climate change.' Patel added, 'Mr. Pyatt encourages the federal government of Iraq to utilize the gas resources of the autonomous Kurdistan region in its fundamental plans for achieving energy independence.' He continued, 'We believe Iraq is making progress and has doubled its electricity production over the past decade. Iraq connected to the Jordan electricity grid in March.' Iraq sources one-third of its gas needs from Iran and is striving to free itself from dependence on electricity and gas from the Islamic Republic. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani also announced on Saturday, May 11, during a ceremony to announce the licensing of 29 oil and gas projects, that flaring in Iraq will be stopped in the next 3 to 5 years. Iraq annually burns nearly 18 billion cubic meters of 'associated gas' extracted from oil fields due to the lack of gas collection equipment, wasting it in flares. The country flares twice the amount of gas it imports from Iran. In late April, Iraq signed contracts with several American companies to reduce gas flaring. So far, Iraq has granted licenses for oil and gas fields to foreign and domestic companies in five rounds, with the sixth round including 29 fields and exploratory blocks in 12 provinces and one offshore block in the Persian Gulf. For the first time, Iraq is developing a hydrocarbon field in the Persian Gulf. About 20 domestic and international companies are eligible to participate in the tender for the development of these fields and exploratory blocks. Hayyan Abdul-Ghani, Iraq's Minister of Oil, previously announced that the country aims to increase its recoverable oil reserves to 160 billion barrels. If this project is operationalized, Iraq's recoverable oil reserves will surpass those of Iran. With the current recovery factor, Iraq's recoverable reserves are 145 billion barrels, sufficient for 96 years of oil production at the current production level. Iraq currently produces 3.9 million barrels of oil daily, the highest figure among OPEC member countries after Saudi Arabia.
US Welcomes Iraq's 'Important' Steps to Reduce Energy Imports from Iran
The US has praised Iraq's efforts to reduce energy imports from Iran, highlighting a visit by Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Pyatt. Iraq aims to achieve energy independence and has doubled its electricity production over the past decade, while also planning to stop gas flaring in the coming years. This shift is significant as it may reduce Iran's influence in Iraq's energy sector.
👥 Key Players
📰 What Happened
The US welcomed Iraq's efforts to reduce its energy imports from Iran, highlighting a visit by Assistant Secretary Jeffrey Pyatt. Iraq is working towards energy independence and has made significant strides in increasing electricity production and reducing gas flaring.
- Iraq sources one-third of its gas needs from Iran and aims to end this dependency.
- Iraq has doubled its electricity production over the past decade and is developing new oil and gas projects.
💡 Why It Matters
📚 Background
Iraq has historically relied on Iranian energy imports due to its own infrastructure challenges. Recent efforts to develop domestic energy resources are aimed at achieving greater self-sufficiency.
🏷️ Entities Mentioned
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