Unlocking Natural Gas in the Iraq Kurdistan Region (IKR)

The Iraq Kurdistan Region (IKR) is one of the few potential pipeline exporters to Europe that could increase natural gas supplies substantially in the next 2-3 years. In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and continuing sanctions on Iran, the IKR could potentially boost supply quantity and diversity.
 
The IKR holds most of Iraq’s discovered non-associated gas reserves. Production has advanced recently but there is further scope for major gains in output, technically up to 40 billion cubic meters (BCM) per year by the mid-2030s, as well as from capturing currently flared gas associated with oil production. This potential additional gas could be used to support more reliable power and industrial energy to the people of the IKR. It could also be used to replace polluting oil-based fuels, save more than 10 million tons per year of CO2 emissions, and potentially allow supplies to non-IKR Iraq, Turkey and Europe. Development of these resources could also support economic and social development.
 
The Center on Global Energy Policy hosted a webinar to present the results of a recent U.S. Department of Energy-supported study which aims to assist the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in developing a commercially-robust and environmentally-sound gas market. The panel discussed the commercial and political attractions and challenges to realizing these aims.
 
Moderator:
-- Robin Mills, Non-Resident Fellow, Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA; and CEO, Qamar Energy

Panelists:
-- Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, Kurdistan Region Representative to the United States
-- Jim Jewell, Deputy Director, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of International Affairs
-- Mohammad Makkawi, Managing Director, Kurdistan Operations, Crescent-Dana Gas