Iraq’s Gas Capture Plan Signals a Strategic Shift

Iraq’s perennial unwillingness to reduce the vast amount of gas that it burns while drilling for oil (‘associated gas’) caused it three major problems over the years. To begin with, by failing to capture this gas for domestic power generation, the country was left reliant on Iran for as much as 40 percent of those needs, supplied through imported gas and electricity. That dependence gave Tehran an enormous lever over Baghdad, reinforcing the political, economic, and security influence it already wielded through its various proxy…