TotalEnergies has broken ground on its $250 million ArtawiGas25 processing project to begin capturing by year-end 2025 up to 50 MMcf/D of flared gas from the Ratawi oil field in southern Iraq and provide power to some 200,000 households in the Basra region.
The facility is part of the Gas Growth Integrated Project (GGIP) in Iraq, which, in 2023, ranked third among gas-flaring countries behind Russia and Iran; the US ranked fourth, according to the World Bank Global Gas Flaring Tracker Report (Fig. 1).
Agreed to in 2021 by TotalEnergies but stalled for 2 years amid a dispute over the amount of the Iraqi government’s share, the $10 billion GGIP multienergy project is designed to boost Iraq’s domestic gas and electricity production while it weans the country off imports.
Renewables Part of 4-in-1 Solution
The 4-in-1 project includes the gas processing plant, which, by 2027, is targeted to grow its recovery rate to 300 MMcf/D and generate 1.5 GW of power, along with redevelopment of the Ratawi field and construction of a 1-GW solar farm and seawater treatment plant to provide water injection for pressure maintenance and increase oil production.
The modular design of the ArtawiGas25 plant is envisioned for replication across other Iraqi oil fields, according to TotalEnergies, which announced the groundbreaking on 10 January.
TotalEnergies holds a 45% operator interest in the project with partners Basra Oil Company (30%) and QatarEnergy (25%).
In a news release, Julien Pouget, senior vice president for Middle East and North Africa exploration and production at TotalEnergies, praised the project as one that will deliver “more energy and less emissions.”
“Through this project, TotalEnergies is demonstrating its capacity to deliver valuable and fast-track solutions in accordance with the government’s expectations and the country’s electricity needs,” Pouget said. “We look forward to the next GGIP milestone in the coming weeks with the start of construction of the 1-GW solar project.”
Iraq Flares Less Gas Year on Year
At the end of December, Iraq’s Deputy Minister for Gas Affairs Ezzet Saber Ismael told Bloomberg that Iraq aims to cut flaring of associated gas to 20% in 2025 and to end the practice totally by 2030. In 2024, Iraq flared 33% of its associated gas, he said.
Iraq currently produces 3.12 Bcf/D of gas, of which about 1.05 Bcf was flared as of December 2024, Ismael said.
