MPs warn of Iraq’s oil export vulnerability

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Two members of the parliamentary Oil, Gas, and Natural Resources Committee outlined critical structural challenges facing Iraq’s energy sector on Sunday, June 14, 2026. In separate statements to the official state newspaper, lawmakers issued stark warnings regarding Iraq’s dangerous reliance on a single maritime export bottleneck, while adjusting timelines for the country’s multi-billion dollar flare gas capturing initiative. A member of the oil committee, Khalid Sido, strongly criticized Iraq’s continued reliance on a single primary maritime exit for its crude oil exports, characterizing the lack of geopolitical diversification as an unacceptable threat to national security. Sido highlighted that the proposed Basra-Aqaba oil pipeline, which was originally planned to terminate at Jordan’s Red Sea port to serve as a vital strategic bypass, remains stalled and non-operational. To insulate Iraq’s treasury against sudden regional emergency blockades or chokepoint closures, Sido urged the government to leverage its current financial reserves to build a robust, state-owned national maritime tanker fleet. The lawmaker noted that international shipping companies currently charge Iraq between $3 and $4 per barrel in freight fees. Establishing a sovereign fleet would not only eliminate these massive operational outflows but would also ensure uninterrupted delivery schedules during regional emergencies, capitalizing on Baghdad’s balanced diplomatic relations with neighboring territories. On the upstream processing front, committee member Hawra Aziz Al-Mousawi detailed the complex infrastructure dependencies preventing an immediate end to gas flaring across Iraq’s southern oil fields. Al-Mousawi explicitly ruled out the possibility of completely eradicating gas flaring by the end of next year, pointing to four massive structural, financial, and operational pillars that must be fully realized first: Massive Processing Infrastructure: The comprehensive construction of large-scale industrial treatment plants and cross-provincial pipeline networks. Upstream Compression Stations: The installation of advanced gas gathering and high-pressure compression hubs directly at the wellheads. Heavy Capital Injections: The sustained commitment of billions of dollars in multi-year capital expenditure budgets. Long-Term Operational Stability: Securing absolute physical safety and technical operational consistency across isolated oil fields. According to Al-Mousawi, the ongoing failure to capture associated petroleum gas costs the Iraqi state between $1 billion and $4 billion annually in direct losses, depending on global energy price volatility. The macroeconomic damage is compounded by the heavy financial burden of importing Iranian natural gas to fuel domestic electricity grids, alongside the lost industrial opportunities for local petrochemical and fertilizer manufacturing. Furthermore, the burning gas continues to inflict severe environmental degradation and respiratory health crises across Basra and neighboring oil-producing governorates. Despite these headwinds, Al-Mousawi revealed significant positive momentum in modern processing rates. Iraq’s associated gas utilization index recently surged from an average of 51%–53% to an impressive 65%–70%. This rapid baseline improvement is driven by active joint-venture projects with global energy conglomerates, including British Petroleum (BP) and TotalEnergies, which are currently building advanced processing facilities designed to permanently stabilize Iraq’s sovereign energy grid. The post MPs warn of Iraq’s oil export vulnerability appeared first on Iraqi News.