On March 16, Iraqi Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani confirmed that the country has officially suspended operations at strategic super-mines including West Qurna 1, West Qurna 2, Faihaa and Majnoon. Some mines in Maysan province in the southeast are also on the list of temporary suspension of exploitation this time.
The detection of potential risks in operation and safety assurance in key areas has forced the Baghdad government to make a decision to suddenly freeze production.
Currently, oil and gas exploitation activities in Iraq are only maintained at a limited level at mines in the central region. According to Mr. Abdul Ghani, this meager amount of oil is mainly prioritized for supply to domestic power plants to maintain the social security network.
However, the complete freezing of southern oil fields - which are considered the economic "blood vessels" of the nation - has caused a major shock in the global energy market, as experts continuously detect signs of serious supply disruptions.
West Qurna and Majnoon are not only Iraq's largest oil fields but also among the world's leading reserves. The cessation of operation of these facilities has prompted international exchanges to actively detect and analyze response scenarios for the supply chain in the Middle East.
In the context that the Strait of Hormuz is still being blockaded, the fact that one of the key oil exporters such as Iraq cuts off production will push crude oil prices far beyond previous forecasts, directly threatening the economic stability of many importing countries.
Besides the price impact, the suspension of production at large-scale oil fields also poses a thorny problem of technology and infrastructure maintenance. The Iraqi government is making efforts to control the situation to ensure modern mining equipment during the suspension period.
All efforts of the Ministry of Oil and Gas at this time are focused on finding optimal solutions to protect national assets, and at the same time being ready with plans to restore production as quickly as safety conditions are ensured.
Large oil-consuming countries are racing against time to detect alternative supplies from other regions to compensate for the huge gap left by the super-mines in southern Iraq.
The question of when Iraq will reopen its oil fields remains open, making concerns about a full-scale energy crisis increasingly present.
