The importance of the Akkas gas field for Russia, Iran, and China can barely be overstated.1)
Situated in the heart of the Middle East, sharing its eastern border with Iran, its northern border with Turkey, its western border with Syria and Jordan, and its southern border with Saudi Arabia, Iraq is perhaps the single most geopolitically important country in the entire Middle East to these three countries - and to the U.S.2)
The field itself has around 5.6 trillion cubic feet of proven reserves, and Iraq’s Oil Ministry plans for it to produce around 400 million cubic feet per day of gas. But Akkas could have nothing in it, and Russia, China, and Iran would still do anything to get it. One key reason for this is that oil and gas companies are legally entitled to secure their oil and/or gas field operations around the world through whatever means they feel necessary. In practical terms, this can include stationing a massive heavily-armed security force around an oil and/or gas field.3)
However, there are even bigger stakes at play for Russia in the Akkas development due to its geographical location. The Akkas field is one of three big gas sites that form a skewed triangle across southern Iraq, stretching from the Mansuriya field near the eastern border with Iran, down to the Siba field in the south (extremely close to the key Iraqi Basra export hub), and then all the way west across to Akkas itself (extremely close to the border with Syria). Along the spine of this entire area running from east to west are the historical ultra-nationalist and ultra-anti-West cities of Falluja, Ramadi, Hit and Haditha. At the point geographically, Iraq turns into Syria, and it is just a short hop to the key strategic ports of Banias and Tartus, and to Latakia – all three of which are crucial globally strategic sites for Moscow, as also detailed in my new book on the new global oil market order.4)