Iraqi Kurds Pledge Gas for Nabucco
Northern Iraq’s vast gas fields may have enough reserves to provide the entire supply for the Nabucco pipeline, a Kurdish minister said on Friday, raising more hopes that enough supplies could be found to fill the ambitious pipeline project once Iraq resolves its post-war internal disputes on power and revenue sharing.
Ashti Hawrami, the natural resources minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), said Kurdish oil fields in northern Iraq were estimated to have 100 to 200 trillion cubic feet (tcf), or 3 to 6 trillion cubic meters (tcm) of natural gas. “This is more than adequate for internal use, the domestic supply of Turkey as well as to satisfy the requirements of Nabucco. We are confident, if we can prove the full 200 tcf, we can supply the entire needs of Nabucco,” Hawrami speaking at the Black Sea Energy and Economic Forum.
Richard Morningstar, US special envoy for Eurasian energy welcomed possible Iraqi Kurdish participation in planned Europe-bound pipelines, saying, “If we could get the Kurdish gas, that would be a very positive thing.”
However, Morningstar said that the Kurdish regional administration and the central government in Baghdad must first resolve their disputes on power and revenue sharing.
Energy exports from the KRG have been hindered by disputes between the Kurdish government and the central government in Baghdad For years the two parties have been unable to resolve their disputes, thus blocking the passage of necessary legislation on hydrocarbon development and revenue sharing.
In the absence of relevant laws, the Iraqi government says it will not recognize contracts signed by the KRG for energy exports, effectively keeping northern Iraqi reserves out of the global energy market.
RWE Supply & Trading signed a cooperation deal with the Kurds “to develop and design its domestic and export gas transportation infrastructure — creating a route to market for Kurdistan’s major gas reserves.” However Iraq has called the agreement “illegal.”
Hawrami said he was still optimistic that a solution could be found in a near future because Iraqis are tired of lingering indecision and are looking for new revenues to rebuild the country. However, he said that Kurds’ concerns on revenue and power sharing must be addressed.