Iraq Development Program - Imminent agreement on gas between Iraq and Europe

Imminent agreement on gas between Iraq and Europe (20/04/08) The European Union says it is about to reach an agreement with Iraq over the next few weeks, according to which Iraq will provide the Union with gas and crude oil.

		Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki who is visiting Brussels, said that his country is about to issue a new law governing the oil-sector in Iraq and encouraging investment. European officials said that Iraq would increase its production of oil, and promised to provide 5 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Europe as a sign of good faith. The European Union had announced last Monday that it has received promises to provide European countries with ten billion cubic meters of gas annually from next year.
It is noteworthy that Europe relies on Russian gas to satisfy only a quarter of its need of natural gas; it will also contribute in building a new pipeline to transport gas from the Turkish border. Europeans hope that the new pipeline (known as Nabucco) will transfer gas from Turkmenistan across Iraq and the Turkish territory to Europe; however, work on building Nabucco line will not begin before 2010, and it would convey only 5% of the European continent need for gas. The gas which al-Maliki promised the Europeans will be extracted from the field (Ekas) in the western province of Anbar; Iraqi Oil Ministry had announced earlier that it was negotiating with Shell Company for oil to do the extraction tests on that field. On the other hand, al-Maliki demanded the Europeans to provide the necessary expertise to rebuild the productive and administrative bases for the oil sector in Iraq. Source: Iraq Directory

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