Dana Gas signs Agreements with Kurdistan
Regional Government
15/04/2007
Asharq Al-Awsat
Sharjah, Asharq Al-Awsat- Dana Gas, the Middle East’s first regional
private-sector natural gas company, announced that it has concluded important
agreements, including a Strategic Alliance Protocol, with the Kurdistan Regional
Government of Iraq. These agreements form part of a strategy to advance the
considerable economic benefits available to the region through the successful
development of its substantial gas resources.
The agreements were signed in Erbil by
Nechirvan Barzani, the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, and
Hamid Dhiya Jafar, Executive Chairman of Dana Gas, in a ceremony that was
attended by several KRG officials, as well as by several Members of the Board of
Directors of Dana Gas, and Directors of Crescent Petroleum.
Under the terms of the Strategic Alliance
Protocol, the Kurdistan Regional Government, Dana Gas, and its affiliate
Crescent Petroleum will jointly review the natural gas resources in the
Kurdistan Region of Iraq with a view to the optimization, development and
utilization of that substantial resource.
As part of the Strategic Alliance Protocol, the
“Kurdistan Gas City” project was launched. This is a major new gas-utilization
industrial complex designed to promote private sector investment in a variety of
gas-related industries for optimal use of the region’s natural gas resources.
These will further benefit the country’s citizens through training, job
creation, and the promotion of general economic activity.
In addition, Dana Gas was appointed on a
service contract basis to develop, process and transport natural gas from the
Khor Mor Gas Field on a fast-track basis, and to also concurrently appraise the
potential of the Chemchemal Gas Field, in order to provide urgently-needed
natural gas supplies to fuel domestic electrical power generation plants
currently under construction near Erbil and Slaimani, by January 2008. For this
purpose, Dana Gas will be diverting a state-of-the-art gas processing plant
currently nearing completion which it had previously acquired for another
project, in order to circumvent the typical 2-year lead time required for a new
construction.
His Excellency Nechirvan Barzani, Prime
Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, said: "We are very pleased to
enter into this strategic partnership with Dana Gas, as a regional company and
one that is fully committed to the region and all aspects of the natural gas
sector. The Kurdistan Region is in urgent need of natural gas as fuel for
electricity generation projects that are long overdue, and will benefit not only
the people of the Kurdistan Region but contribute to affordable electricity for
the whole of Iraq. We are also devoted to launching private-sector initiatives
for development of additional industries and inviting related investments so as
to enhance job creation and boost the economy of the Region and in turn the
entire country. We are confident that this important initiative by the KRG with
Dana Gas will set an excellent example to other regions and governorates of Iraq
for the country’s economic development for the benefit of all Iraqis.”
Hamid Dhiya Jafar, Executive Chairman of Dana
Gas, said: "Dana Gas is honored to enter into these important agreements with
the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq to jointly develop the strategy for
its natural gas resources. As a regional integrated natural gas company, we are
able to provide a complete solution of gas field development, processing and
transportation that is urgently required on a fast-track basis for electrical
power generation. In addition, we are excited by the launch of the Kurdistan Gas
City endeavour, and the opportunity to work alongside the Kurdistan Regional
Government for the development of a long-term plan to maximize the economic
benefit of natural gas resources. We hope that this is the first of many
concrete projects that Dana Gas and Crescent will undertake in Iraq, as we are
from the region and here for the long-term.”
