Iraqi Oil Minister: The future of energy is promising and we are heading to develop gas fields

Iraqi Oil Minister: The future of energy is promising and we are heading to develop gas fields

2021-12-20 06:45

Shafaq News/ Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar confirmed, on Monday, that the future of energy in Iraq is promising with its great capabilities, despite the economic and health challenges and the fluctuations of the global oil market.

This came in a speech he delivered at the “Ministerial Forum for Future Energy Prospects” organized by the Ministerial Council for Energy and in the presence of the Ministers of Oil, Finance and Water Resources, a number of undersecretaries, advisors, general managers and the President of the Military Defense University.

In a statement received by Shafak News Agency, Abdul-Jabbar pointed to “the importance of the establishment to find an integrative state for the energy industry in the country that includes all sectors.” He said that “Iraq is proceeding to implement serious and important plans aimed at increasing production and optimal investment of energy to achieve sustainable economic development, in addition to implementing Iraq’s commitments regarding reducing emissions and global warming.”

He added that “in the coming years, Iraq needs an increase in the production of electric power commensurate with the increase in the population growth rate that Iraq witnesses annually,” noting “the importance of securing and monitoring the financial budgets necessary to implement energy production projects to cover the need and local consumption.”

He added, “Iraq has made remarkable progress regarding gas investment, and there are discussions and negotiations with international companies to develop gas fields in the country in addition to the national effort,” stressing “government support for gas investment projects and the transition to clean energy,” noting that “Iraq has concluded many production contracts. Electricity in order to invest solar energy, as well as signing other contracts to meet the local need for electric energy.

The minister valued the fruitful attendance of the ministers, their visions and proposals for the future energy prospects for Iraq, praising the role of the media office and those responsible for preparing and organizing the forum, stressing the importance of repeating such events that would spread a culture of dialogue and integration to develop the energy industry in the country.

For his part, Finance Minister Ali Abdul-Amir Allawi said that “there are economic challenges that the country is going through, due to the instability of expectations regarding oil prices, noting that Iraq depends in its federal budgets on the revenues that are achieved from crude oil sales.”

He added, “The global outlook for the future of energy is the tendency to adopt new, new options that do not depend primarily on fossil fuels.”

For his part, Minister of Water Resources Mahdi Rashid touched on Iraq’s trends to benefit from water energy in the production of electricity through the implementation of hydroelectric projects, noting that Iraq has plans to establish a number of water dams despite the challenges of Iraq’s water resources due to the low shares of water flowing from neighboring countries. .

The former Oil Minister Thamer Al-Ghadhban presented a working paper on the future prospects for the Iraqi energy sector, in which he referred to the priorities for developing the gas sector, stressing the importance of the provisions for developing the discovered gas fields and reservoirs and expediting their development and production, despite the challenges of the present and the future. Al-Ghadhban also presented a future vision for the transition to clean energy. .

While the advisor of the Ministry of Oil for Energy Affairs, Abdul Baqi Khalaf, stressed during the working paper he presented at the forum on a road map towards sustainable energy transformation and the need to adopt the uses of renewable energy, represented by solar energy, wind energy and nuclear energy due to its environmental and economic importance.

He pointed out that “Iraq has many obligations to the international community through its pledges made in climate and energy-related conferences, so it is necessary to implement projects that would reduce gas emissions and preserve the environment and climate.”

For his part, the advisor to the Minister of Electricity, Abdul Hamza Hadi, presented a working paper on the prospects and challenges of the electric power sector in Iraq and the importance of implementing projects to increase production and community awareness regarding rationalization of use and consumption.

Also, during the forum, a report was presented on the oil markets, opportunities and challenges on the short and long terms, prepared by Muhammad Saadoun from the Oil Marketing Company.

shafaq.com