By Khalid Al-Ansary and Nayla Razzouk on April 11, 2013
Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) and Mitsubishi Corp. (8058) will start capturing gas from Iraq’s oil fields next week in a $17 billion project known as Basra Gas Co.
“Basra Gas Co. will start operations officially on April 15,” said Ali Hussain Khudayir, director general of South Gas Co., which represents the Iraqi government’s controlling stake in the Basra Gas Co. venture.
The plant will produce 400 million cubic feet (11 million cubic meters) a day from next week, climbing to 2 billion cubic feet a day by 2017, Khudayir said on March 27. The facility will capture so-called associated gas from the Zubair, Majnoon and West Qurna-1 oil fields in southern Iraq.