Iraq’s Oil Ministry has officially opened two new gas compression facilities, the first in the country for three decades, as part of the South Gas Project to capture and utilise flared gas in the south of the country.

The Hammar Mishrif and Rafidhiya gas compressors were opened by Deputy Prime Minister for Energy, Hussain al-Shahristani on 1 March, according to a statement from the Oil Ministry.

The facilities will process approximately 60 million cubic feet a day (cf/d) of associated gas.

Egypt’s Petrojet was awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract in February 2013, by State Company for Oil Projects (SCOP), a subsidiary of the Oil Ministry for five compression stations; Rafidhiya, Zubair, Zubair Mishrif, Hammar and Hammar Mishrif, all in the Basra province.

Construction was completed in 11 months.

The deal is part of Iraq’s efforts to bring an end to gas flaring at its southern oil fields, led by the Basra Gas Company (BGC), a joint venture of UK-Dutch oil major, Shell Group, Japan’s Mitsubishi and state-owned South Oil Company.