27 March 2018, Sweetcrude, Lagos — Over $4.9bn in capital expenditure (CapEx) will be spent by Iraq-focused operators on gas projects over the next four years, to ensure that country’s production will grow to around 3 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in 2021, according to GlobalData, a leading data, and analytics company.
Genel Energy plc will drive Iraq’s gas production with 34.5 percent share of all production in 2021. Crescent Group Holdings Limited and Dana Gas will follow with 5.9 percent each. Iraq has six key upcoming upstream gas projects, of which four will be producing by 2021. Genel Energy plc, Turkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortakligi, Kurdistan Regional Government, and Kuwait Energy Plc will lead in greenfield gas projects, with participation in two upcoming projects each in the near future. The rest of the participants have one upcoming project each.
Iraq is expected to spend $4.9bn as CapEx on conventional gas projects during 2018 to 2021, with spending topping in 2018 at $2.0bn. Average full cycle CapEx per barrel of oil equivalent for Iraq gas projects is $6.3. New gas projects average $4.9 per barrel of oil equivalent in CapEx.
Average development break-even price for gas projects in Iraq is about $6 per thousand cubic feet (mcf).