it has a tenfold improvement of nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide which would make that air, the poor air quality referenced have a significant impact on that. iraq has a large installed base of gas turbines. we've been working collaboratively with the ministry of electricity to ensure that installed base continues to operate. while additional capacity is needed, we can't afford to lose what is already online. there has been so much degradation over the years that many of those machines are operating at less than their rated capacity and are at risk of breaking down. ..

focusing on and the rehabilitation and the upgrading and that installed base is absolutely critical for iraq's energy security. at the same time, much of that capacity is operating in the simple cycle mode. which is effectively a machine, gas turbine running hooked up to a generator to produce electricity. converting that fleet from simple cycle to combined cycle will have a very significant impact. and then the type of technology, most of the operating fluid in iraq is older generation what we

in the industry would call in the class turbine or an f class turbine. they are been step changes in the efficiency of the technology where a combined cycle plant state-of-the-art h class technology operating at 64% efficiency. you know, versus 55% operating in simple cycle mode. you start to see the impact that some of these efforts can have. there's a lot that needs to be done to strengthen the grid. the transmission and distribution system. building substations. we have added 30 substations to iraq over the last several years building and interconnection with jordan. iraq and additional power from jordan as opposed to iran. the next step would be to build and interconnection with saudi arabia as well. the minister referenced the need for renewable elections and the

project is focused on solar. additional solar capacity in iraq is absolutely essential as you continue to build out and improve what is happening in the natural gas segment as well. software to make those electrons flow across the grid more efficiently and optimally. predicting where maintenance is required or where problems will emerge into the future so you can get ahead of that without suffering outages. and then, you know, just providing training. we employ over 200 people in iraq. 95% of that workforce is local. we have done thousands of trainings not just of our own people but technology partners as well as building that knowledge base and i think we will continue to have that happen he had and then, of course, look ahead to the future so much of the focus right now

is just making sure there is sufficient capacity. trying to make it more efficient but also understanding if you add a lot of gas capacity, gas power generation capacity, that will be in place for decades. you have to look at that from a very responsible physician and realize you have to d carbonized that technology. there are ways to do that. our turbine technology is capable of running on hydrogen. if and when there is the emergence of a hydrogen economy, hydrogen capability in iraq, you can blend that right in with the natural gas stream to have a cleaner output from your turbines. perhaps even more realistic and more near-term in iraq would be the utilization of capture technology which exists today. i am chatting with a colleague earlier collaborating on an effort to build a gas fired carbon capture plant in the uk. carbon capture technology has existed for decades.

it's been used in other industrial applications. it's now starting to be used in the gas power segment as well. that can be done in iraq. it is particularly fortuitous that you can utilize the carbon that you are capture rising, reinjected into the ground for enhanced oil recovery so you can produce oil more efficiently and more cheaply in iraq. so, i think that these are all different ways you can tackle the problem both near-term and longer-term and to do it in both an economically and environmentally responsible way. >> thank you. that is a really useful snapshot of electricity situation and also what i think most people are interested in this and look at where we are going with some optimism in there which is always something that gives good to offer any of these conversations. i think that that is a great note to hit on that. so, going back a little bit, i

would like to have this same question, but building on the industry perspective. building on what georges talked about and adding an independent spirit question is, i would like you to kind of draw a picture for us, same thing. how can iraq meet its demand, energy demand overall. how can it build its energy independence while dealing with all of the challenges it is dealing with with energy security had environmental objectives. they question but i appreciate you taking this time. >> thank you very much. it is a pleasure to be here today. thank you to organizers. i would like to build upon what george said. first of all, i would like to commend the efforts that has been happening in iraq. if you look at all of the changes in the past decade, even from two years ago when we were here in the same conference, iraq energy strategy in terms of

both domestic supplies and sources of supplies have been diversified which, and also increase the production. so, this is something that is very important and encouraging that is happening in iraq. we are not just looking how to mitigate the needs of the country, but in a way that matters. all oil and electricity production has increased. the capacity has increased in the past few years. also in terms of diversifying the sources of imports, george mentioned jordan, their discussions with turkey, part of the country and also negotiations with saudi arabia and also potentially integrating the iraqi which is very critical

something to also, i would like to add is some of this country and some of the supply sources already are looking into responsible and low carbon power generation. happening in saudi arabia and reducing their carbon. the country interesting because additional seasonal production of capacity because of this season that they have. in turkey, supplies from turkey and other countries, they are looking into expanding the power generation from solar farms. it was mentioned the solar capacity in iraq, obviously iraq has a lot of unutilized land and solar capabilities that will help the country to expand its power generation. but, i would say, the most important part is what was mentioned capturing that gas which not just helping reducing

the omission, but also increasing the capacity, production capacity in iraq helps the country in terms of income, but also has health consequences. it will promote health in the regions that are involved and are suffering from this flaring. the other thing is reducing dependency on one source of imports which historically has been iran. that has been a critical thing for iraq. not just the political issues and the sanctions on iran, but also already facing a deficit in power generation and also there gas production is depleting. so, definitely all of these diversification's in iraq. both in terms of investing in its own resources and also diversifying the supplies would be very helpful. especially if the connectivity of greed happens because most of their countries in the region

are dealing with summer temperatures. growth in population and significant energy needs for water to sally's cessation. that would definitely help. not just iraq but the whole gigi c region. i would want to, again, go back and say that it is very encouraging to see that things are improving. again, electricity is a matter of national security for any country. every iraqi government has been dealing with the issue of electricity interruptions. a matter of national security and stability. very important. they all have been trying to somehow solve part of this issue but infrastructure i would say it was mentioned in detail. it was important in all the efforts happen. i would conclude by saying it is encouraging that how all of these diversification's are happening within iraq energy security strategy.

>> thank you a lot for touching on the solar and some of the other issues. before we turn, i would like to just follow up. you painted an encouraging picture of the regional dynamic. i do not want to be, you know, i don't want to be a pessimist, but i want to just ask again a realistic perspective. all of that makes sense. it is great it's connectivity. a lot of complicated relationships. how do you, you know, we will get to this more but i just either wanted to put a pin in that or ask you to elaborate a little bit more on how, you drew an encouraging picture. stay with a positive as i inject a little realism. >> the challenges are there. they are complicated.

there are always negotiating for long term energy trade ties. it is always very complicated. the optimism i am not usually an optimist person definitely. but i draw that based on a historical movement towards both expanding the capacity and diversifying the sources. definitely challenges are there. i do remember a few years ago when one of the ministers were discussing even the domestic politics of iraq as he shows the security infrastructure has been a question did challenges are there. the speed of progress is not as it expected. iran has been flaring natural gas or having the visit for power generation for a long time

now. as long as i would say things are moving forward despite all the challenges. i would remain positive. >> great. thanks. thank you to everyone for starting to get the questions in we will go for another couple questions and try to get you to the questions later on. do please keep them coming. i have them here on the screen. we will be able to get to them later. great to pick up on some of the positive things we talked about. renewables and solar and energy transition. hitting some positive notes here i really appreciate you. if you could share insights about a couple of the activities that o gci is working on in the region, particularly with all that we have mentioned.

you are an issue of ogc. kind of catalyze these efforts. again, explain a little bit of what you are doing and maybe give a damn iraqi perspective of what the prospects are for greater cooperation and collaboration with iraqi partners. >> yeah. thank you. i am so sorry for not being with you. i am grateful that you accept a virtual connection. thank you for that. just things that have been said about the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emission coming from iraq. i will focus a little bit more on what is happening on the ground.

part of the otc i initiative. it has been in place for 10 years. we walked very closely with 12 companies. in the region that is obviously very active. try to defined for the other dance industry. the findings that we have across the rest of the ministry. a big program that we launched was satellite capacities to help we did a program in 2021. we covered six assets in iraq. it was the national companies to help them fix their method and engage them to appear and peer

to peer relationships. the idea was really to walk the local engineers in the field and helping them to fix. we run a program and identify what was happening across the observation that we are making. giving you a little bit of perspective, the capacity alone to cover and we are able to submit to a 20-meter by 20-meter a very precise measurement to identify where the source point is coming from. 80% of the salvation we have been making, able to allocate this and to engage to see whether this can be fixed. the flaring system and things like this. the good thing is that when you

engage and you have an engineer for your relationship, and engineer doesn't have this properly. it is as if i was telling you you have a leak in your house and you would like to fix it. the same thing happened when the local operator is made aware. some of the cases, the average admission rate was 1.5-ton per hour of memory. we know that methane is a very important greenhouse gas emission. twenty-five times more global warming potential. fixing methane is a click, you know, game changing action when it comes to climate change. and, so, somewhere the average was 1.5. more or less the greenhouse gas

emissions. it is quite a significant spirit in many cases, i mean, most of the cases we have observed, it has been possible to fix it simply by operational improvements. it is just because the cooperator was not aware that there was a methane leak which he had sent to comes to the exact same point on earth, once a week or twice a week, we are able to observe when the omission is stopped. it is been a very, very successful program. we are extending it to other countries. now we are expanding it to another series of countries. building on their learning experience that we went through with the iraqi operator. i have to say it has been a success because the iraqi have been very cooperative. we could not do that without

having a very close personal relationship and having a pure willingness to fix the methane leakage. thanks to this successful story now we are expanding it. we are forever grateful because it allowed us to expand the program. this entire program is quite new and i know that some of the local players are directly using , directly contracting to help them continue to monitor because it can happen anywhere. any assets at any point in time. having a type of system that will allow you to detect and fix them. now when 28, launching an initiative. it brings along for d4 companies spanning from, you know, and ocs

in india, pakistan, latin america, africa, middle east, but also ioc. they are part of that. it does a number of commitments from, you know, investing in the system of the future being renewable or energy efficiency and so on. also it has a very specific goal in addressing methane emission by 2030. also foreseen by many through the government that iraq signed a few years ago. so, this new initiative is bringing along all of these and ocs. one third are ioc. there are a lot around the table that are sharing and learning the best practices and experience. particularly the relationship with the state on how to implement the policy mechanisms,

the point that was hinted like the complexity of the system sometimes for oil and gas players to act. here they are showing the best practices and experience it beyond technology but also what can be done, basically in a very concrete way to fix the mixing leakage by 2013. which is probably speaking in five years time. 2030 is not that far away right now. deploying the technologies in the best practices that we know. servicing a platform to share that. of course, the chapter is very much open to join forces. it is free of charge. that is good news. you can get them access to this in a very quick fashion. it is really a call for not yet considering to sign to look at it and of course reach out if

you are interested. >> i do not know if the deputy master's office is still connected, but that is a clear message and i think a really well outline on what the benefit would be. i really appreciate you outlining the success that you had. before i turn to matt, just, could you just may be go a little bit more detail on what the next level of success looks like even if it is not specifically owed gci chart. you say they have identified it and therefore it would be logical to fix it. we all know the potential for capturing that in iraq and globally. it all makes sense that there would be this next step. could you just explain what that will looks like or what may be some of the hurdles are? you may have intimated at some of them, not to take away from the successful measures you had, but may be to give us a look at how that actually happens, that would be really helpful.

>> i think the first initial step is to characterize the size of the issue of what we are talking about. it is very difficult when it comes to methane emissions. this is coming from the world bank. there is an estimate that iraq these responsible for 10% of the omissions. responsible for approximately one third-one quarter that we are experiencing today. this is a significant issue we are talking about. first of all, characterizing where our emissions are coming from. it could be from gas, it could be from venting as well that this is happening. so, i think the characterization of the issue is absolutely necessary and this can come through the use of protection technology. the use of aircraft or drones. i think that having a very clear

characterization of issues is the first thing to do and on all assets. i know they are doing it in iraq in the proper way but it is not yet systematic. it is also making sure that you continuously check that you have new issue coming up here a bit of a change of mindset as well in the industry. it is very important that you deal with methane emissions seriously as this industry has been dealing with. once you have this kind of mindset in place and best practices, you know, embedded into the iraq players, then you start to identify some of the quick reads. again, they estimate, you know, 70% roughly of the methane emissions could be fixed. we know that because of course you capture a product that is of

value to markets. then a required infrastructure to distribute it through gas deforestation and so on and so forth but this is happening as well. there is a business case that makes sense. characterizing this issue so that the immediate next step is to run proper complain on the other in iraq and complete the picture and then where you can fix. what is your low hanging fruit. >> grade. thank you very much. again, if we are talking about energy, energy's economy, energy is national security, talking to a colleague before about the intersection of business and politics in iraq has been very complicated. i would add to that that it is geopolitics also very complicated in iraq in the energy sector. turning to matt, i hope you give us the bigger picture of where

iraq's energy is seeing fits in the geopolitics. i would just like to ask you what you see as the greatest challenges for the energy future including the iranian influence, iraq's evolving relationship with the united states and of course baghdad's continuing challenging with the bill. >> yes, thank you so much for having me. i think all of the speakers here today many of whom i already know discussed many of the opportunities that iraq affords. there is no questioning that that is the case. i say what i'm going to say in terms of the challenges comes with the caveat that i represent a company that is the largest private investor in iraq. despite the challenges that i will describe, we have expanded our presence in iraq over the last year where we produce almost, if not more than a quarter of the oil produced in that region. i think that it is important to recognize that iraq sits at a

precipice today, especially on the eve of the potential is really counter strike against iran. the implications that it has on iraq and the real veil that we have to lift off of iraq and its challenges, not only on the energy sector but politically and economically. the reality is, iraq is at a precipice. the united states wanted an independent partner in iraq if it is energy independent. making a stand on its own. iran's objectives are fundamentally counter to that objective and largely revolve around ensuring that iraq remains a quiet state through which it proxies can exert an extraordinary influence. i think that we are all learning that influences not only strong, but growing through iraq's energy sector as well. and, the question then becomes who fills the vacuum and what is happened in the last 24 months.

we have clearly seen that china has been ready to fill that vacuum where iran also fails. that is the most evident. most recently when 13 of the 16 fairground contracts were signed by chinese firms. that is why the ambassador hosted in houston last month. to wrestle with the question of how does iraq's oil energy future look? such that it attracts a hazard to say foreign investment because it is getting foreign investment but problematically primarily from china. how does it get western investment and what does that say for iraq's future? what that really means is i think that the world is watching i think what they are watching is what is happening in iraq today. there is no better example of that than the continued political and economic problems between baghdad. the reality is that iraq has lost $21 billion at the iraqi

turkish pipeline. that losses up to $30 billion because iraq has had to pay limited salary payments to the region that would be self financed if that pipeline was open. and, so, what you have is a scenario in which iraq's economy is incredibly fragile. and it is also incurring on itself a significant cost of $21 billion in the last 20 months. that it does not have to. that is coming at a time when it's economy is incredibly fragile to oil prices. its budget passed two years ago. take that a $70 bread price. that is been elevated to $80. now we are seeing the implications of when it falls below 80 which it fell again today and that will have significant ripple effects across the iraq economy. making it entirely vulnerable. the one thing that i do want to

make sure we put on the table today is that there has been incredible progress in this is something that i monitor closely in my time in government. whether it is gas capture, electricity production in iraq, what i will ask everyone to consider and make sure it is put on the table at the same time is that it's all about supply. what is happening in iraq is the demand is outstripping that supply. unless we wrestle with those two challenges we are not really attacking the problem fundamentally. despite all the progress we talked about demand outstripping that and it has to be solved. coming back to the problem, gas flaring is a problem in that is what we have heard today. that is a fundamental climate problem for the globe and principally for iraq. that requires international investment in that international investment is on the sidelines watching what happens in iraq's oil sector. and it's electricity sector and how it resolves the disputes with beale and baghdad.