* Sulphur is widely used both in industry and in the production of consumer goods — paper, rubber, fabrics, medicines, cosmetics, plastics, fertilisers, paints, and other products. Together with oil, coal, cooking salt and limestone, it is one of the raw materials essential to the chemical industry.

The advantages of granulated sulphur lie in its convenience and safety in storage and transportation (by any means of transport), and more sanitary and hygienic working conditions and production standards.

** The construction of sulphur production and processing facilities at the Badra field is down to the higher sulphur content of the associated petroleum gas (APG).

*** Technological lines at the Badra gas plant are used to process APG — modern equipment making it possible to use this to produce a broad range (fraction) of liquid hydrocarbons, dry-stripped gas and liquid petroleum gas (LPG). Hydrogen sulphide obtained in APG separation is used to produce elemental sulphur. Dry-stripped gas is transported via a 106-kilometre pipeline to the Az-Zubaidiya power station, which supplies electricity to several provinces in Iraq as well as the state capital, Baghdad. A portion of dry stripped gas is also used as fuel for the Badra field’s own 123.5 MW-capacity gas turbine power plant, which provides energy for all field equipment, the field residential complex, and more than 25,000 residents in Badra and surrounding settlements.

The Badra oilfield is located in the Wasit Province, Eastern Iraq. Preliminary estimates indicate reserves in place at the Badra field to be in the order of three billion barrels of oil. Development of the field is expected to run for 20 years, with potential for extension by a further five. The contract was signed with the Government of Iraq in January 2010, on behalf of a consortium comprising Gazprom Neft (operator), KOGAS (Korea), PETRONAS (Malaysia), and TPAO (Turkey). Gazprom Neft’s share in the project is 30 percent, KOGAS’ 22.5 percent, PETRONAS’ 15 percent and TPAO’s 7.5 percent. The share held by the Iraqi government, represented by the Iraqi Oil Exploration Company (OEC), is 25 percent.