For the first time, this week Iraq has delivered a shipment of liquified petroleum gas.

The Iraqi Oil Ministry marked the occasion with a statement hailing the shipment as an achievement, and quoting the managing director of Basra Gas Company, Malcolm Mayes saying it was a “historic moment.”

Mayes said, “Today, we can load and export compressed and semi-cooled liquefied gas… this step allows us to triple our exports globally via tankers. We will also gain access to many global markets that use the semi-cooled liquefied gas exclusively.”

An earlier report by an Iraqi media outlet wrongly identified the product as liquified natural gas. Liquified petroleum gas is used for cooking in developing nations, and to power some internal combustion engine vehicles.

Iraq has been working feverishly to diversify its ability to exploit its hydrocarbon reserves, included gasses, which are a byproduct of oil extraction. They are particularly driven to develop their natural gas reserves as a way of weaning the country off its dependence on Iranian imports. The government recently struck a deal with China’s CNPC to construct a gas-processing plant in Nasrallah.

Previously gas was wasted by gas flaring, the burning of it as it escaped, at oilfields. Capturing it, liquifying it, and exporting it offers the prospect of not only not wasting it, but profiting from it as well.

BGC’s Mayes went on, “Our strategic plan for the future is to maximise semi-refrigeration exports and eventually participate in the global LPG-trading market when we start exporting fully refrigerated LPG.”

Basra Gas Company’s managing director also said, “BGC has been working relentlessly to meet its strategic plan. By upgrading Umm Qasr Marine Terminal and installing the necessary chiller units, we were able to bring this project into fruition. Now LPG can be loaded on both pressurised and semi-refrigerated ships, which will increase the number of vessels that our export customers can use to trade LPG produced by BGC.”