Dana Gas expects initial gas flow in Iraqi Kurdistan by mid-2008
Posted: 03 March 2008
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UAE-based Dana Gas will soon supply the first 150 million cubic feet of natural gas per day to Kurdistan from a local gas field as power generation project is progressing at a rapid pace in the northern Iraqi region.
With over 70% overall project completion to date, the entire gas project is on track for initial supply by mid-2008, and double its output to 300 million cubic feet for its second phase by early 2009, the company said.
The project has completed the engineering, procurement and manufacturing phases, and is now in the construction stage, using Iraqi contractors to maximise local content and economic benefit.
The piped gas will supply new power plants under construction in Erbil and Sulymaniya, set to generate 1,250 MW of electricity generation for the benefit of over 4 million Iraqi citizens in the Kurdistan Region and the rest of Iraq .
According to the company, the project which was signed in April 2007 with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and carried out in partnership with Crescent Petroleum, involves a total investment of $650 million - the largest single private sector investment in Iraq since 2003.
It includes upstream development and production, processing with state-of-the-art LPG plants, and transportation of natural gas through a new 180-km pipeline in order to provide urgently-needed gas supplies to cost-effectively fuel the new power stations under construction, providing savings to the government budget of over $2 billion annually in fuel costs.
The project implementation will also provide work opportunities for over 2,000 Iraqi nationals of all ethnic groups, and provide comprehensive training in oil & gas operations for Iraq ’s citizens, the company said.
“We have been honoured to work on this project to provide a complete solution of state-of-the-art gas field development, processing and transportation that is urgently required on a fast-track basis for electrical power generation for Iraqi citizens,” said Hamid Jafar, Executive Chairman of Dana Gas.
Jafar and KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani recently met to discuss the developments and the Strategic Alliance Protocol signed by the parties, where they agreed to review the region’s natural gas resources in Northern Iraq .
The protocol agreement includes the 35-sq km ‘ Kurdistan Gas City ,’ a major new gas-utilization industrial complex to promote private sector investment in a variety of gas-related industries.
“We are also excited by the Gas City project, to provide added value and economic benefit from natural gas resources, including productive job creation. We are committed to the immediate progress and development of Iraq ’s oil & gas sector, as we belong to the region and are here for the long-term.”
Baghdad has severed relations with foreign oil companies who chose to operate in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region calling the contracts null and void until the central government’s hydrocarbon law is passed. |
