UK’s Wood secures $100m contract to lower Iraq gas flaring

UK engineering company Wood Group has secured decarbonisation contracts worth $100 million for flare gas reduction across the largest oil fields in Iraq.

The contracts include brownfield engineering, procurement and construction services, as well as modifications to enhance operational efficiency and minimise environmental impact, supporting Iraq’s commitment to reduce gas flaring by 78 percent by the end of 2025.

The contracts will be handled by Wood’s team in Iraq and the UAE. Almost 60 new hirings will be needed to support these projects.

In January a consortium comprising state-owned QatarEnergy began constructing the first processing facility for the associated gas from the Ratawi field in Iraq’s Basra region.

The gas will be supplied to local power plants, meeting the needs of 200,000 households in the Basra region.

In July 2024 Iraq confirmed plans to halt all gas flaring activities in the next five years.

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Gas flaring is the burning of natural gas associated with oil extraction.

Iraq, Opec’s second-largest crude producer, flared more than 17 billion cubic metres of gas last year. Its oil output amounted to 4.3 million barrels a day in 2023.

This week Wood Group was awarded a project management consultancy contract for the UAE’s first methanol production facility.