KRG plans 10 bcm in natural gas exports to Turkey in two years

Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) plans to export 10 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas to Turkey over the next two years, KRG Natural Resources Minister Ashti Hawrami has stated.

"Over the next two years, we plan to export around 10 bcm gas to Turkey, but this target may be extended to 2019," Hawrami said on Nov. 20, as quoted by Reuters. 

Speaking at the Atlantic Council Energy & Economic Summit in Istanbul, he also said he did not have any concerns about how this gas will be imported by Turkey, as the country has the required infrastructure, state-run Anadolu Agency reported. 

Meanwhile, Genel Energy, a major oil producer in the KRG, plans to establish a joint company with the KRG government to develop gas fields, its chairman Tony Hayward said at the same conference. 

Pointing out that General Energy has two natural gas fields in the KRG, Miran and Bina Bawi, which have gas reserves of around 300-400 bcm, Hayward said these fields would become fully operative by the end of 2016 and exports to Turkey were planned to start within the next two to three years. "We'll start our gas projects before 2016 ends and we will have the opportunity to start the gas flow in two to three years. By increasing production to 10 bcm, we'll realize the first phase of a deal with Turkey," Hayward said, as quoted by Reuters. 

Estimated 5 trillion cubic meters of gas

The KRG has an estimated 5 trillion cubic meters of gas in its territory, the Genel Energy chair said, adding that the region could reach gas exports of up to 20 bcm to Turkey and to Europe through Turkey with the entrance of other companies to the KRG market before the end of the 2020s. 

Long-running disagreements between the KRG government...