Iraqi Kurds Defend Gas Deal with RWE

Iraq's Kurdish authorities have defended a deal recently signed with Germany's RWE to help them develop the region's gas resources, saying the agreement was legal and constitutional. Iraq's Oil Ministry issued a statement saying that the agreement, like oil deals that the semi-autonomous Kurdish Regional Government has signed with international companies, is illegal because Iraq's oil and gas are federal resources.

"We will continue to successfully develop our oil and gas in line with the constitution, which was accepted by a majority of the Iraqi people," said Falah Mustafa Bakir, head of the foreign relations department in the KRG. "We will not wait for the instructions of an unsuccessful ministry like the Iraqi ministry of oil. We express our commitment that all income will go to the federal purse and will be distributed to all Iraqi areas without favour."

RWE said on Friday it had signed a gas cooperation agreement with Iraq's Kurdish regional government. Under the deal, RWE would help develop and design domestic and export gas transport infrastructure and create a route to market for Iraqi Kurdistan's gas. The RWE statement quoted Iraqi Kurdistan's Natural Resources Minister, Ashti Hawrami, as saying that up to 20 Bcm/y could be fed into the Nabucco pipe to bring gas to Turkey and Europe.- Trade Arabia