Rosneft seeking pact for Kurdish gas line

Rosneft PJSC expects to complete an agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for construction of a natural gas pipeline able to supply electric power plants and factories in the Kurdish region of Iraq and to export as much as 30 billion cu m/year of gas to Turkey and Europe.

The company said it and the government are negotiating fast-track development targeting first domestic deliveries in 2019 with exports beginning in 2020.

Rosneft also said it has completed due diligence for access to the KRC’s crude oil export pipeline and expects to complete binding documents soon.

Access to the oil pipeline is covered in an investment agreement signed by Russian and KRG officials in June that also included cooperation in exploration and production as well as production sharing agreements for five blocks in Iraqi Kurdistan.