The Iraqi Ministry of Oil announced that it will invest in associated gas after signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Honeywell for gas processing from the Artawi southern oilfield, Asharq Al-Awsat reported.

The project’s 36-month first phase targets a capacity of 300 million standard cubic feet per day (mscf/d), as the ministry plans to invest in gas from many fields, as an important step to enhance production and resource utilization, and providing sufficient supplies of dry gas, according to Iraq’s Minister of Oil, Thamir Al-Ghadhban.

The project is expected to later be developed to include five large oilfields, namely Majnoon, West Qurna, Luhaise, Tuba, and Saba, according to the ministry spokesman Assem Jihad.

“Companies like Honeywell are working hard to help the development of new long-term investments, including the Artawi gas project, which aims to strengthen the Iraqi economy by increasing local capacity to produce energy through modern technologies, while providing thousands of job opportunities and reducing pollution,” said the US Ambassador in Baghdad, Matthew Toler.

Ghadhban revealed in May that Iraq has a strategy to deal with a potential shortage in natural gas supplies from Iran due to US sanctions.

Iraq depends heavily on importing gas from Iran to generate power and meet the increased demand on electricity, especially during summer.