Long Road ahead for Iraq Pledge to Phase Out Gas Flares

Long Road ahead for Iraq Pledge to Phase Out Gas Flares

In the oilfields of southern Iraq, billions of cubic feet of gas literally go up in smoke, burnt off on flare stacks for want of the infrastructure to capture and process it.

The flares produce vast amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, contributing to global warming without any economic or social benefit, AFP reported.

Analysts say the waste is particularly egregious, as Iraq is a significant importer of natural gas, meeting a third of its needs through expensive and not always reliable supplies from neighboring Iran.

The government has pledged to phase out the practice by 2030 but the road to a greener, less wasteful energy sector is proving a long one.

For the oil companies exploiting the mega fields around Basra, it is actually cheaper to flare off the associated gas than to capture, process and market it, despite the obvious environmental costs.

Currently, only half of the three million cubic feet of gas that comes out of Iraqi oil wells each day is captured and processed.

The rest is burnt off in flares creating the plumes of acrid black smoke that blight the skies.

"Flared gas, if captured and processed, could provide electricity to three million homes," said Yesar al-Maleki, Gulf analyst at