[DoughtyOne]

Thanks Thackney. For some time I have been amazed at how seemingly ineffective the Iraq government has been with regard to getting oil production up to speed after the war.

I would have brought in a number of oil companies, let them bid on various sites. Give them a slice of the action, and watch the profits roll in.

It seems the same problem is taking place with regard to natural gas too.

How can you squander resources like that, when the rewards are right under your nose, and just months to a few years away if developed professionally.

[thackney]

They are getting better. They did bring in companies from other countries, held auctions and awarded to those that are drilling and expanding the oil production.

Iraqi gross natural gas production rose from 81 billion cubic feet (Bcf) in 2003 to 660 Bcf in 2011. Some of this natural gas is used as fuel for power generation, while a portion of it is re-injected to enhance oil recovery. However, the majority of Iraqi natural gas production is flared. Flaring losses in some months have exceeded 60 percent of production, or more than 1 Bcf per day, due to a lack of sufficient pipelines and other infrastructure to transport it for consumption and export. As a result, Iraq's five natural gas processing plants, which can process over 773 Bcf per year, sit mostly idle.

To reduce flaring, Iraq signed an agreement with Royal Dutch Shell to create a new joint venture, Basrah Gas Company, to capture flared gas in Basrah Province. The 25-year project costing $17 billion has a planned production capacity of up to 2 Bcf per day.

More at:
http://www.eia.gov/countries/cab.cfm?fips=IZ