Iraq should look to gulf for gas exports, says Shell

Iraq should look to nations in the Persian Gulf region as potential natural gas export markets, Han Nijkamp, country chairman for Royal Dutch Shell in Iraq said Tuesday.

In southern Iraq, Shell is close to signing a $17 billion deal to develop natural gas infrastructure. The project will capture gas that is currently burned off from oil fields in the Basra region and use it for domestic energy needs, with an option for exports.

Nijkamp said that there is a huge market in other Gulf states that could be reached by pipeline.

Shell is also redeveloping the Majnoon oil field in Iraq. The field is currently producing 65,000 barrels a day of oil, which Shell plans to raise to 175,000 barrels a day by the end of 2012, assuming infrastructure constraints can be resolved, Nijkamp said.