Ukrainian company wins rights to develop major gasfield in western Iraq

Iraq signed a deal with a Ukrainian company on Wednesday to develop a gasfield in the western part of the country as part of efforts to boost its energy supply.

Ukraine’s Ukrzemresurs will increase production at the Akkas gasfield from 60 million cubic feet per day at present to 100 m cfpd within two years, Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan Abdel Ghani said.

That will increase to 400 m cfpd within four years, he added.

Rights to develop the field in Anbar province were first awarded to South Korea's state-run Korea Gas in 2010.

Kogas signed a deal to develop it in 2011 but withdrew when the field was captured by ISIS, then retaken by Baghdad in late 2017.

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Akkas is believed to have reserves of 5.6 trillion cubic feet of gas, the Iraqi Oil Ministry said.

The deal was signed after a wait of several years "because of the war against terrorist gangs", deputy oil minister for extraction affairs Bassim Mohammed Khudhair said.

The gas produced following the latest deal will power the Anbar plant and the Akkas station, he added.

Despite being Opec’s second-biggest producer, Iraq is dependent on Iran for about a third of its electricity needs.

It buys electricity and natural gas to generate power from its neighbour but still has electricity shortfalls that result in extended power cuts across the country.

Baghdad has been under pressure from the US to wean itself off Iranian energy imports, which have been subject to US sanctions since 2018.

Since then, Washington has repeatedly extended waivers to Baghdad for periods of 45 to 120 days to be able to import Iranian electricity and gas.

Iraq has taken some measures to further develop its natural gas resources and reduce the shortfalls in the electricity sector in recent years.

Last year, it signed a deal with French company TotalEnergies to develop oil and gas and renewable energy projects worth $27 billion.

Iraq holds a 30 per cent stake in the joint venture, while 45 per cent is held by TotalEnergies and the remaining 25 per cent by QatarEnergy.

The Gas Growth Integrated Project will recover flared gas at three oilfields to supply gas to power generation plants.

It will build a seawater treatment plant for providing water injection for pressure maintenance, as an alternative to the use of fresh water from rivers and aquifers.

It will also develop a one-gigawatt solar power plant to supply electricity to the Basra regional grid.

Iraq’s natural gas reserves stand at about 3,714 billion cubic metres.

Another way to earn air miles

In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.

An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.

“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.

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TRAP

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue

Director: M Night Shyamalan

Rating: 3/5

RESULTS

6.30pm UAE 1000 Guineas Trial Conditions (TB) US$100,000 (Dirt) 1,400m

Winner Final Song, Christophe Soumillon (jockey), Saeed bin Suroor (trainer).

7.05pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (Turf) 1,000m

Winner Almanaara, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson.

7.40pm Handicap (TB) $175,000 (D) 1,900m

Winner Grand Argentier, Brett Doyle, Doug Watson.

8.15pm Meydan Challenge Listed Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 1,400m

Winner Major Partnership, Patrick Cosgrave, Saeed bin Suroor.

8.50pm Dubai Stakes Group 3 (TB) $200,000 (D) 1,200m

Winner Gladiator King, Mickael Barzalona, Satish Seemar.

9.25pm Dubai Racing Club Classic Listed Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 2,410m

Winner Universal Order, Richard Mullen, David Simcock.

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What is cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying or online bullying could take many forms such as sending unkind or rude messages to someone, socially isolating people from groups, sharing embarrassing pictures of them, or spreading rumors about them.

Cyberbullying can take place on various platforms such as messages, on social media, on group chats, or games.

Parents should watch out for behavioural changes in their children.

When children are being bullied they they may be feel embarrassed and isolated, so parents should watch out for signs of signs of depression and anxiety

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Mia Man’s tips for fermentation

- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut

- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.

- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.

- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.