KRG, Pearl Petroleum sign 10-year agreement to boost gas production

"The Kurdistan Region holds potentially over 200 trillion cubic feet of gas."

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) has signed a 10-year agreement for gas production and sales with Pearl Petroleum which would increase gas production in the Region by 125 percent within two years.

According to a Wednesday statement released on the MNR’s website, the KRG and Pearl Petroleum signed an agreement to increase production of gas from the Khor Mor field later this year with the aim of boosting electricity for the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.

The 10-year gas sales agreement was signed on Jan. 30, 2018, the MNR statement said. It will enable gas production from Khor Mor field to increase by 25 percent in 2018—from the current 320 million cubic feet per day (mcfpd) to 400 mcfpd.

Based on the agreement, a multi-well drilling program in the Khor Mor and Chemchemal fields will be built, as well as the installation of new gas processing and liquids extraction facilities, the statement read.

The MNR added that the overall aim of the agreement is to increase gas production by a further 125 percent within the next two years to 900 mcfpd.

Pearl Petroleum, the company consortium led by Crescent Petroleum and Dana Gas of the UAE, have plans to expand their local training and employment programs where the companies employ close to 500 full-time local personnel representing over 80 percent of the local population.

In a separate statement, Dana Gas confirmed the agreement and stated that “Pearl Petroleum has contributed to local communities with support for local power generation, education and healthcare facilities, as well as support programmes for internally displaced Iraqis [in the Kurdistan Region].”

“The Kurdistan Region holds potentially over 200 trillion cubic feet of gas, and the KRG is committed to playing a positive role in the growing gas and electricity needs of Iraq and the Region,” Ashti Hawrami, the KRG’s Minister of National Resources, was quoted in the Dana Gas statement.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany