Kurdistan to export gas to Turkey by 2018

The head of the Kurdish Regional Government’s (KRG) energy committee, Sherko Jawdat, said Monday that Erbil plans to export gas to Turkey in 2018 and that a pipeline will be constructed in 2017 to export it.

Speaking to Turkey’s Anadolu News Agency, Jawdat said just like Russia, Kurdistan could also be one of the countries that supplies natural gas to Turkey and Europe.

“We have strategic plans for this. This is a golden opportunity for the region,” he said, adding that technical work on the project has already started.

With regards to the amount of gas that will be exported to Turkey, Jawdat said this will be decided after the technical committees complete their work.

He explained that according to the latest data from the Ministry of Natural Resources as many as 600,000 barrels of crude oil is exported to Turkey daily, adding that efforts are being made to increase the volume of exports, predicting that they will reach 1 million barrels per day during 2016.