Akkas gas field to start production

An employee of the State Company for Oil Projects (SCOP) works on the new pipeline connecting the Akkas gas field to the Akkas power plant in Anbar province near the Syrian border. (STAFF/Iraq Oil Report)

Iraqi state companies have been quietly prepping the massive Akkas gas field near the Syrian border to begin production, more than a decade after it was awarded to the Korean firm Kogas to be developed, a process that was derailed by the so-called Islamic State (IS) group and other security risks.

Akkas now appears poised to commence production through a combination of wells drilled prior to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, and repurposing equipment from the Mansuriya gas field, where development has also been delayed.