Al-Gharraf Oil Field… The First Accused of Spreading Cancer in Al-Rifai

Only 600 meters away from the Gharraf oil field, located to the north of Dhi Qar Governorate, is the home of young Ali Hussein Alwan (19 years old). In early February 2023, doctors discovered a tumor in his brain. He underwent two surgeries to remove it at the Al-Ahli International Hospital and Dr. Saad Al-Watari Hospital in Baghdad, and he received six chemotherapy sessions afterward.

His father, Hussein Alwan (45 years old), blames the gas emissions from the Gharraf oil field, saying: “They are the cause of what happened to my son.”

The difficult health condition of his son, along with the diagnosis of cancer in 35 others from his village (Khidr al-Fishakh), which is near the Gharraf oil field, and the death of some of them over a span of ten years, prompted him to appeal to the Ministers of Environment, Nizar Amidi, and Oil, Hayan Abdul Ghani, to address what is happening in the area and protect its residents.

In 2023, the two ministers sent technical committees to assess the pollution levels and understand the environmental problem. “But no action has been taken since those committees wrote their reports, and the pollutants continue to exist and increase,” says Hussein Alwan, who spends most of his time accompanying his son on his exhausting treatment journey, which requires constant travel between Dhi Qar and Baghdad, where the treatment centers are located.

“He points out that he has provided the relevant technical committees with all the reports proving the pollution, including death certificates of cancer victims: ‘We have participated in several demonstrations in front of the field’s gate to put an end to the deadly environmental violations, but nothing ever happens,’ he says with frustration.

The negligence of the oil company, Petronas, the Malaysian firm managing the field since 2010, led the residents of Khidr al-Fashakh village to resort to the judiciary. In early 2024, they filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Oil, demanding a solution to the pollution problem caused by the oil field, which is still under consideration.”

Humanitarian Appeals

The investigator reviewed several written complaints submitted by residents of the Rifa’i district and other villages near the oil field since 2018. These complaints were addressed to members of the parliament and to the ministries of Environment, Oil, and Health. The latest complaint, submitted in February 2024, was directed to Prime Minister Mohamed Shia’ al-Sudani, in which they urged him to find urgent solutions to the problem of “toxic emissions” from the Gharaf field, which have caused some local residents to develop serious diseases, some of them cancerous

They indicated that what is happening in their area is an “environmental disaster” that violates the terms of the contract signed between the Ministry of Oil and the Petronas Company, which includes a clause requiring the treatment of gases emitted from the drilling and burning operations in the field.

According to the technical report issued by the Ministry of Environment on August 7, 2023, which the investigator obtained, the quantity of associated gas produced is “between 85-90 million cubic meters (MCM) per day, “currently, only 8-10 MCM per day are used to operate the field’s gas power station, and the rest is flared.

“The report indicated that the field’s management plan includes investing approximately 50% of the associated gas during the 2024 plan.

The Gharaf field was offered for investment in the second licensing round in 2009, and the Malaysian company Petronas began operations there in 2010. The current production of the field is 160,000 barrels of oil per day, with the number of drilled wells totaling 139, of which 120 are production wells connected to production, and 9 are used for water injection and reservoir pressure maintenance.”

The Black Killer

The black smoke emitted from the Gharaf oil field, which “chokes the breath and pollutes the air of the city,” according to residents of the Rifa’i district, has become a constant source of concern and fear for them, especially since the relevant authorities “have been unable to enforce any measures to ensure a reduction in environmental violations,” as expressed by a representative of the residents of Khidr al-Fashakh village, Sheikh Hassan al-Absaoui.

Sheikh Hassan owns large areas of agricultural land around the village. He states that he has stopped cultivating these lands due to the emissions from the oil field. He mentions that the people of his village have been asking for help since the field began operating, “to reduce the pollutants resulting from the burning of gas without treatment and the dumping of oil waste in pits close to the homes of the village residents,” as he mentioned.

He affirms, “The oil pits are still uncovered, and they have become a cause of increasing cancer and respiratory diseases in the village, with the release of foul odors.” He supports this claim with opinions from specialists, as he alleges.

Sheikh al-Absaoui accuses Petronas of blackmailing the residents of his village, offering them a choice between relocating to another area or remaining silent about what is happening. He says with some anger: “35 cases of cancer in our village, and they tell us this! They have no right whatsoever. We have lived on this land, which has been agricultural for decades, and we have signed contracts with the Agricultural Department regarding it.”

The Director of the Environmental Police Center in Dhi Qar Governorate, Brigadier General Rashid Jassim, supports the claims of Sheikh al-Absaoui and other residents of his village or nearby villages. He says: “Through field visits to the Gharaf field with a specialized team to combat environmental pollutants, and in coordination with the Chemicals Department at the Dhi Qar Environmental Directorate and the National Security Service, we confirmed several violations. These include the ‘shilla flares’ caused by the burning of gas during oil extraction, as well as the presence of oil pits in the field, which emit harmful gases and foul odors that negatively affect the health of residents in the villages near the field.”

He adds: “We also observed the accumulation of hazardous chemical barrels in the field, which undoubtedly negatively affect the lives of the citizens.” The security official called on the Dhi Qar local government to allocate annual funds “to address the pollution, provide cancer medications, and support the affected and deceased.”

According to a document issued by the Environmental Division in Rifa’i on March 14, 2021, “thick black smoke” was repeatedly observed covering the city from the eastern side, resulting from the burning of an oil well at the (WPK) site of the Gharaf oil field in the village of Arkan Khair Allah.

Upon reviewing the pollution case involving the Gharaf oil field, the investigator documented complaints filed by residents of Rifa’i on November 8, 2021, to the Ministry of Environment – the Technical Department / Environmental Impact and Land Use Section. The complaints confirmed that they were affected by “dense smoke plumes resulting from burning operations within the Gharaf oil field.” As a result, the Technical Department at the Dhi Qar Environmental Directorate instructed the formation of a committee, along with security forces and the Dhi Qar Oil Company, to investigate the pollution caused by oil companies in the governorate.

In its communications with the Dhi Qar Oil Company, the committee threatened to take all legal actions against the Malaysian Petronas company if it failed to address the ongoing “emission of black smoke” covering the city of Rifa’i, according to a document obtained by the investigator.

According to this document, the Environmental Directorate noted that the company managing the field was not complying with environmental requirements, which stipulate “the use of an appropriate system aimed at reducing emissions and black smoke during the testing of oil wells or the final development plan for the field.”

On November 18, 2021, the Technical Department of the Ministry of Environment informed the Ministry of Oil about the citizens’ exposure to “dense smoke plumes resulting from burning operations in the field.” The letter from the Technical Department pointed out that this situation violated the environmental requirements that were included in the development environmental approval granted to the field, as per their letter numbered (1043) on July 29, 2021.

The approval required “the use of appropriate systems during the testing of oil wells that reduce emissions and black smoke, the investment of associated gas without flaring, and the management of oil pits as hazardous waste.”

Regarding environmental approvals, a staff member in the relevant department reported that the Gharaf oil field received environmental approval for the establishment and commencement of operations in 2012. Additionally, in 2021, the field received a development environmental approval, granting the investing company the right to build new production units, production lines, and wells within the field.

Ongoing Environmental Risks

The Ministry of Environment’s recommendations to rectify the field’s conditions and ensure compliance with environmental requirements have not been implemented, according to the former Director of the Dhi Qar Environmental Directorate, Karim Hani. He acknowledges that the problem of oil pits and the flaring of associated gas during oil extraction persists without resolution.

Hani adds that “the foul odors experienced by the residents of the villages near the Gharaf field are caused by the oil pits, where water containing oil impurities from the extraction process is isolated. This leads to fermentation and decomposition, which produces foul odors and causes diseases.” He explains that addressing this violation, represented by the oil pits, requires a specialized company officially licensed by the Ministry of Environment.

Additionally, a responsible source in the Dhi Qar Environment Directorate says that “everyone knows about the environmental problem of the Gharaf oil field and its link to the rising rates of cancer and other diseases, but no one officially announces this for fear of legal consequences.”

The government official, who requested anonymity, confirms that the Gharaf field is the closest oil field to residential areas in Iraq. He continues, “Oil industries are among the major pollutants affecting the environment in the country due to the failure of oil companies, including Petronas, to comply with environmental requirements and standards.”

He believes that “the government prioritizes economic feasibility over health feasibility, considering that Iraq’s public budget relies entirely on oil revenues,” as he stated.

Other government employees from Dhi Qar who were interviewed by the investigator mentioned that the Ministry of Oil does not respond seriously to the Ministry of Environment’s recommendations regarding the environmental violations observed at the Gharaf oil field. They expressed their surprise at this, given that the Ministry of Oil is the responsible entity.

On January 21, 2021, the Dhi Qar Environmental Directorate informed the Dhi Qar Governorate, notifying it that a specialized committee had been sent to address the issue of gas emissions and foul odors from the Gharaf oil field.

The report included information that the operating company continued to “dispose of oil waste into pits lined with high-density polyethylene. After the pits fill up, they are burned to reduce their size, which results in the formation of a thick smoke cloud and significant environmental pollution, in addition to the emission of foul odors from the pit site located at the gas separation station and the sanitary landfill.”

The Environmental Directorate emphasized in its letter the negative impact of all these issues on the surrounding areas of the field, including the villages of (Al-Aliwi, Al-Obeid, Al-Sayer, Al-Bu Hamza, Khidr al-Fashakh, the center of Rifa’i district, and Qalat Sukar district).

However, despite all these governmental efforts, the environmental situation within the field remained unchanged. This was confirmed by the Environmental Directorate on May 11, 2022, which pointed to the continued violations, such as the emission of gases and dense smoke “due to the irregular burning of oil wells and the lack of modern techniques for inspecting them within the field.” The Directorate of Environmental Protection and Improvement for the Southern Region called for legal action to be taken against the Malaysian company.

Inaccurate Tests

The technical team of the Ministry of Environment documented an “environmental flaw” in the results of the environmental tests conducted for the first three quarters of 2023 at the Gharaf oil field, which were carried out by the advisory office of Dhi Qar University. The tests included an evaluation of air quality, and water and soil tests.

It was found that the devices used for air quality testing were portable (DRAGER) devices, and their readings are immediate or for very short periods, meaning that they provide results only for the time of testing and do not represent the true air quality at the site. The site requires measurements through a fixed or mobile reference monitoring station that conducts continuous measurements over long periods, comparing them with the prevailing environmental standards.

The results of the groundwater quality measurements showed that they exceeded national limits for several carcinogenic heavy metals, such as (arsenic, cadmium, lead, nickel), among others, for the first three quarters of 2023.

The report from the technical environmental team confirmed that the environmental standards used for measuring heavy metals in the soil differed from those adopted by the Ministry of Environment and were of an unknown source.

The report sent to the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers – the Advisory Board on January 21, 2024, recommended the urgent need to provide both a fixed and mobile air pollution monitoring station at the Gharaf oil field, using reference measurement methods in line with prevailing wind directions. The stations should be connected to the internet to send real-time, continuous pollution measurement results directly to the field management, the Dhi Qar Environmental Directorate, and relevant authorities in the governorate.

The report also emphasized the need for field management to periodically supply the Dhi Qar Environment Directorate with air quality readings for the field in order to monitor emissions and the ongoing environmental tests conducted by the advisory office. This is to ensure the health of field workers and the residents of the surrounding areas who are affected by these emissions.

However, it is noteworthy that the annual report by the Federal Board of Supreme Audit, issued in 2022, pointed out that the contract signed with the Malaysian Petronas company did not include a clause requiring the company to establish gas treatment and utilization units for the associated gas produced during crude oil extraction. This means there was no obligation for the company to build integrated facilities for processing the gas.

Increasing Cancer Cases

The Ministry of Health recorded 39,068 cancer cases nationwide in 2022, of which 1,562 cases were in Dhi Qar Governorate. A document issued by the advisor to the Prime Minister, Mousa Al-Fayyad, directed to the head of the Prime Minister’s office, revealed ongoing pollution at the Gharaf oil field, which has been operating for 14 years. It has led to the diagnosis of cancer in 3,000 people, with 10% of them having died (according to official medical reports), and the number of cancer cases continues to rise.

According to the document, Advisor Mousa Al-Fayyad called for the establishment of a specialized cancer center in Rifa’i District. He also requested financial support for the affected individuals and the families of the deceased through the Ministry of Oil, as well as providing them with land allocations and social welfare salaries. Furthermore, he suggested granting the residents of nearby village’s access to subsidized loans to help them relocate to areas farther from the field.

The Cancer Oncology Center in Nasiriyah, which opened in 2012, has provided medical services to 8,500 registered cancer patients in Nasiriyah over the past 12 years. This statistic was shared by Dr. Ahmed Al-Abadi, the Director of the Cancer Oncology Center in Nasiriyah. He explained that the center has a capacity of only 40 beds, with four wards for chemotherapy and four for male patients, another for female patients. The center typically receives between 80 and 120 cancer patients daily.

According to Dr. Al-Abadi, cancer treatments are supplied to the center through the supply company (Kimadia), which is affiliated with the Ministry of Health. Kimadia covers 25-40% of the actual demand, while the Dhi Qar Health Directorate provides 50%. “Together, we cover 90% of the treatment needs for patients,” he says.

Cancer patients in Nasiriyah complain about the lack of specialized doctors, as there is only one specialist in oncology and pediatric hematology in the governorate. As a result, families are forced to seek treatment for children under 14 in Baghdad, Basra, or the Warith Foundation in Karbala.

Dr. Qasim Al-Shuwaily, the head of the Free Clinic Project in Rifa’i District, states that cancer patients in Rifa’i have been forced since 2019 to travel to Al-Warith Hospital in Karbala (273 km away), which is affiliated with the Al-Abbas Holy Shrine, for procedures such as PET scans, tumor removal surgeries, and receiving free chemotherapy doses.

He adds, “We provide treatment services to 400 cancer patients from Rifa’i, and we also have cases from other districts such as Al-Nasr, Al-Fajr, Maysalon, Qalat Sakar, and Al-Gharaf. We suffer from a lack of oncologists and a shortage of cancer treatment supplies because the number of patients is large.”

According to medical sources in Dhi Qar province interviewed by the investigative team, some cancer patients, especially those who are financially capable, seek treatment abroad or in other governorates, and thus their cases do not appear in official medical records.

The investigative reporter visited Khidr Al-Fashakh village and documented, through photographs, the extent of the environmental violations present and their proximity to the residents’ homes. Many citizens there say that these are the very scenes that members of the inspection committees witness when they visit the area, yet, despite this, no real solutions have been implemented, according to their statements.

Environment Ministry Banned from Accessing the Field

Petronas, the Malaysian company, did not allow the environmental teams from the Department of Environmental Protection and Improvement in the Southern Region to enter the oil field for the purpose of assessing the environmental situation and verifying the measures taken to prevent burning operations, the high levels of air pollutants, and their failure to address them. This is according to a document issued by the Ministry of Environment on March 29, 2022.

The Ministry of Environment considered the decision to prevent its staff from entering the field a violation of Article 22 of the Environmental Protection and Improvement Law No. (27) Of 2009, which mandates companies to fully cooperate and provide the necessary facilities for environmental monitoring teams, including allowing access to work sites.

In the same document, the Ministry of Environment urged the Dhi Qar Oil Company to address all violations resulting from the operation of the Al-Gharaf oil field by using the best specialized technologies and methods for treatment in accordance with environmental requirements and applicable regulations.

The ban on the Ministry of Environment’s teams from accessing oil companies is not new, as it was preceded by a similar restriction in 2019. However, “since Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani took office, he has enabled the ministry’s monitoring teams to enter the areas where oil companies operate,” a fact revealed by Jassim al-Falahi, the technical undersecretary of the Ministry of Environment. He acknowledges that the environmental pollution caused by gas flaring at the Al-Gharaf oil field and other oil fields is one of the urgent files that negatively affect public health.

Al-Falahi adds that there is a direct and proportional relationship between environmental pollution and the increase in infectious diseases, respiratory conditions, and cancer rates.

Kazem Al-Fayadh, a member of parliament from the Al-Rifai district, denies the existence of any significant role for government environmental bodies “in the face of violations and environmental infractions.” He states that their work is limited to producing paper reports that “are written and then archived.” As a result, he submitted requests to the Supreme Judicial Council and the Public Prosecution to address this environmental and health issue, as he mentioned.

The investigator attempted to contact the management of Petronas, the Malaysian company operating the Al-Gharaf field, to get their response regarding the accusations directed at them, but no response was received.

Blame-Shifting

Advisor to the Prime Minister, Mousa Al-Fayadh, holds the Environmental Directorate of Dhi Qar responsible for “the deteriorating conditions of the people in Al-Rifai District due to environmental violations.” He says, “What the Dhi Qar Environment Directorate conveys to the Ministry of Environment consists of much idealized reports that are far from reality.”

He believes that the Al-Gharaf oil field has a dangerous environmental impact, not only on the residents of Al-Rifai District but also on nearby districts such as (Qalat Sukar, Maysan, Al-Fajr, and Al-Nasr). “There are residential villages surrounding the field that have been affected by oil waste throughout the past period,” he affirms.

He continues, “We have observed that the increase in cancer rates and fatalities in Al-Rifai is due to the environmental waste from the Al-Gharaf oil field. Because of this, Al-Rifai has become an infected area,” and he adds, “This issue worsened due to the company’s failure to comply with the terms of the contract, resulting in hazardous environmental waste.”

He notes that the oil waste was being transported from the field by a local company to the Al-Kahla area in Maysan Governorate, “but the operation of that company was halted due to its failure to pay taxes, causing a delay in the transport of hazardous oil waste and the filling of the oil pits, which subsequently led to the emission of foul odors from the field.”

A source from the Al-Gharaf oil field, who is from Al-Rifai District and works at the field, spoke with the investigator and placed the blame on what he describes as “corruption among some officials in Nasiriyah.” According to this source, these officials have, in his view, contributed to the continued release of harmful pollutants from the Al-Gharaf field affecting nearby residents. The source, who requested anonymity for fear of legal repercussions, explains: “The politicians in the province are primarily concerned with gaining material benefits, without any regard for the lives of the citizens.” He does not elaborate on the methods by which these officials gain such benefits. The source also confirms that there is a lack of oversight over the Al-Gharaf field.

He further accuses even the citizens of the district of not being serious in their demands. He says: “The demands are always tied to job opportunities and employment in the Al-Gharaf field as compensation for the harm done to them, which has caused the company to become lax in fulfilling their demands.”

Government Promises:

The Iraqi Ministry of Oil has repeatedly urged oil companies to invest in associated gas from oil extraction instead of burning it. However, according to Ministry spokesman Assem Jihad, in press statements, “Gas investment is a complex industry and requires specialized international companies that use advanced tools and technology. Iraq has taken very important steps in this direction by contracting with reputable companies to stop burning gas, which is harmful to the environment.”

He continues, “There is an agreement with the American company Baker Hughes to invest 200 million standard cubic meters of gas from the Al-Gharaf and Nasiriyah fields in Dhi Qar. These investments will collectively provide significant quantities of gas instead of burning it in the atmosphere, thus reducing pollution.”

Jihad emphasizes that “completing the current projects in Maysan, Dhi Qar, and a large part of the Basra projects will mean providing large quantities of gas to meet domestic needs and stopping the harmful burning operations that affect the environment.”

He notes that the primary objectives of these investments, in addition to halting gas flaring, are “to meet the local needs of power plants and stop the environmental damage caused by gas flaring.”

This comes after a directive issued in early March 2024 by Prime Minister Mohammad Shia’ al-Sudani to the Ministries of Oil and Environment, instructing them to direct the Dhi Qar Oil Company to task the operating company of the Al-Gharaf oil field (Petronas) with establishing a central unit for the treatment of waste generated from extraction operations, according to the environmental standards and specifications approved by both ministries. Additionally, it was directed that the necessary funds be allocated within the investment budget on an exceptional basis, following the preparation of the technical and economic study for the project.

He also instructed Petronas (the operating company), under the supervision of Dhi Qar Oil Company and the follow-up of Dhi Qar Environmental Directorate, to treat the liquids in the oil ponds to prevent their fermentation, using practical and approved environmental methods. The directive also included the use of proper and safe means to transport the waste to processing centers outside the field, and the establishment of permanent treatment units due to the proximity of these ponds and production units to the surrounding villages and towns.

Despite all of this, Zain al-Abidin Hamoud (24 years old) is still unemployed, hoping to stop the “smell of death,” as he describes it, which surrounds his village (Khidr al-Fashakh), and which caused him to suffer from acute bronchial asthma due to exposure to toxic gases and chemicals.

“We are dying slowly,” he says, pointing to the oil field that is only a few hundred meters away. “We’ve lost our voices while demanding action from this side and that side, but they do nothing.”

He breaks into a coughing fit before continuing, slapping his hands together: “The Company that runs the field has money, and we are just poor people in a small village, so no one will listen to us.”

The investigation was completed under the supervision of the NIRIJ Investigative Reporting Network as part of the Midan Fellowship Project.