Kirkuk (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Iraq's self-ruled Kurdish region began exporting its crude oil today. Taking part in the opening ceremony was the President of the autonomous regional parliament, Massud Barzani. An estimated 90 thousand barrels a day will be extracted from oil fields in Taq Taq in Erbil and Tawke in Dohuk; the beneficiaries of the concession are the Norwegian DNO and Canadian Addax Petroleum.
The crude oil will travel along an oil pipeline that unites Kirkuk in the North to Turkey. The operation finally got the go ahead from the Iraqi central government, which in the past ripped up a series of deals signed between the Kurdish government and foreign companies. All agreements on oil extraction and concessions, Baghdad repeatedly insisted, must be first approved and cannot be stipulated by the autonomous region.
According to experts the quality of the crude oil extracted from Taq Taq is “excellent”, while the second Tawke is “of good quality but not excellent” because it contains “water and condensed gas” particles. Turkey’s Genel Energji and its Canadian partner Addax Petroleum have a 12% concession on the produce of the Taq Taq oil field; Baghdad will receive 88%of earnings, while 17% of that total will be devolved to the Kurdish government. Norway’s DNO – who won the Tawke concession – instead declined to reveal the details of their accord, but sources closet o the company report that it is “very similar” to the Canadian deal.
The issue of oil is of vital importance for the reconstruction of Iraq’s economy, brought to its knees by years of war. Proceeds derived from the energy sector – petrol and natural gas – makes up 90% of Iraqi gross domestic product (GDP. Baghdad plans to increase its out put – an estimated 2.2 million barrels a day – which is around the same level of production as during the Saddam Hussein era, when the country still suffered the effects of the economic embargo imposed by the United States. The target is six million barrels a day, to be reached within the next four to five years.