DUHOK, Kurdistan Region – Russian oil and gas giant Rosneft has sent a delegation to Duhok to discuss starting work on three oilfields in the province next month. The firm is expected to extract 180,000 barrels of oil per day. “We discussed administration mechanisms with representatives from Rosneft. They are due to open camps in the coming days in places where they will be working,” Bahzad Ali Adam, Duhok’s deputy governor, told Rudaw after meeting the delegation. The company will be working in three places: Batle, Zawita, and in Sarsang and Chamanke in Amedi. Rosneft reached an agreement with the KRG in October 2017 to develop five oil blocks, and according to estimates, these blocks contain 670 million barrels of oil. Rosneft has been given 80 percent of the shares of these blocks in return for $400 million to the KRG. The KRG also signed a gas pipeline deal with Rosneft on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in May. Adam is calling on Rosneft to create job opportunities for locals. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) first produced oil in the Tawke oilfield in Zakho area. Adam said there are five oil companies working in Duhok, including DNO, ExxonMobil, GolfKiston, HKN and Kar. Dilshad Shaaban, deputy head of the Kurdistan parliament’s natural resources committee, said: “The Kurdistan Region is producing nearly 350,000 barrels of oil daily in the three provinces of Erbil, Duhok and Sulaimani. Nearly 270,000 oil barrels are exported, and the rest is used internally. Out of this amount, 185,000 barrels are produced in Duhok.” “The coming of any company is a positive thing that will increase oil production, and will benefit the people of the region. According to oil and gas law, a revenue box will be dedicated for places where oil is produced. Two dollars from any barrel of oil produced in the place is put in the box. Some of the money is spent on services in the region; some is saved for future generations. But this law has unfortunately not been enforced yet,” he said. “Managing the box needs employees and an office in places where the oil is produced. But employees have not been hired for this purpose, nor has it been possible to open an office for this purpose because of the economic crisis,” he added. Dr Bewar Khinse, an energy expert, said it is an important step for the Kurdistan Region to have Rosneft take on these projects. “The importance of this is not only an increase in oil production. Rather, it is politically important for Kurdistan because Rosneft represents the Russian government. Wherever Rosneft works, it means the place is calm and protected,” he said. The Kurdistan Region lost half of the oil it was exporting after the Iraqi government seized control of the Bai Hassan and Avana oilfields on October 16, 2017.
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