In a bid to reduce gas flaring and pay off outstanding reparations for the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, Iraq has hired Japanese firm Toyo Engineering to help it build a gas pipeline to Kuwait, in what could be a blow to Shell’s gas ambitions in Iraq, industry sources tell Reuters . Kuwait is looking to diversify its gas imports from Qatar after several Arab states led by Saudi Arabia severed ties with Qatar earlier this year accusing it of sponsoring terrorism. Iraq has gas reserves, and it extracts large volumes of gas together with the oil, but the gas is currently being flared. “The Kuwaiti gas project is a quick fix and an easy way to monetize gas resources,” a senior industry source told Reuters. Part of the supplies could be used to help pay the US$4.6 billion remaining reparations that Iraq has to pay to Kuwait for the […]