A flame rises from a pipeline at Tawke oil field. A surprise ruling by Iraq's Supreme Court has cast doubt on the legal foundations of the independent oil policy of Iraq's Kurdish-run region. Reuters
A flame rises from a pipeline at Tawke oil field. A surprise ruling by Iraq's Supreme Court has cast doubt on the legal foundations of the independent oil policy of Iraq's Kurdish-run region. Reuters
A flame rises from a pipeline at Tawke oil field. A surprise ruling by Iraq's Supreme Court has cast doubt on the legal foundations of the independent oil policy of Iraq's Kurdish-run region. Reuters
A flame rises from a pipeline at Tawke oil field. A surprise ruling by Iraq's Supreme Court has cast doubt on the legal foundations of the independent oil policy of Iraq's Kurdish-run region. Reuters

To realise its energy potential Iraq's Kurdish region needs to get its house in order


Robin Mills
  • English
  • Arabic

High oil prices and threatened gas embargoes can make Iraq's Kurdish region a key piece on the Middle East-European chessboard. This year, the Kurdish prime minister and president have busily talked energy with the leadership in Abu Dhabi, Doha, Turkey, London and the American, EU and Russian ambassadors. But the complexities of geology and local and international politics again threaten to get in the way.

The semi-autonomous region has endured some tumultuous years. From 2014 to 2019, it was on the front lines against the terrorist group ISIS, whose scattered forces continue hit-and-run attacks in border areas. Following its independence referendum of 2017, Erbil lost its temporary control of most of the giant Kirkuk-area oilfields back to the federal Iraqi government.

The last oil price slump of 2014 and disputes over the region’s share of the national budget led to an economic crisis, huge accumulation of debt, and long backlogs of payment to oil companies and state employees. In 2020 came the pandemic and a deeper oil price plunge.

The situation is markedly different now, as oil market dynamics are more positive. Oil production has been quite stable, about 450,000 barrels per day and enjoying healthy prices.

The Pearl Petroleum consortium, which features Sharjah-based Crescent Petroleum and Dana Gas, is expanding gas production in southern Kurdish region of Iraq. The local Kar Group will extend a gas pipeline from the fields to Erbil and on to the northern city of Dohuk, close to the Turkish border.

That should provide enough fuel for reliable domestic power generation and industrial consumption, and an exportable surplus. Neighbouring markets need the energy: the rest of Iraq buys costly and unreliable gas and electricity from Iran, while Turkey and Europe are searching for alternatives to Russian gas as cut-offs and sanctions tighten.

In February, Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani talked about a possible natural gas deal with Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.

In the same month, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani discussed the region’s “huge gas potential” with Qatari Energy Minister Saad Al Kaabi. In March, he told a conference in Dubai that Kurdish of Iraq would soon export gas to the rest of Iraq, Turkey and Europe.

But matters in Iraq and the Kurdish region are never so simple. First, there are geological challenges. After a string of reserve downgrades, oil production has become dependent on a few leading northerly fields, including Kar’s Khurmala, and the Atrush field operated by Abu Dhabi’s Taqa.

The Patriotic Union of KRG-controlled area, meanwhile, has much less oil output, notably from Gazprom Neft, a unit of the Russian gas monopoly. Rosneft, Russia’s state oil giant, bought a stake in the oil export pipeline in 2017, but its option for a gas pipeline has gone nowhere, and the small fields it operates produce only minor amounts. The two Russian firms will find it hard to make further progress, given constraints of Western-led sanctions and finance.

US behemoth ExxonMobil, which entered the region to much fanfare and political controversy in 2012, finally wrapped up its operations there in April, having failed to launch any commercial projects.

And London-listed Genel just announced an unsuccessful well on its Sarta field, while in January it had to give up drilling the Qara Dagh prospect near Sulaymaniyah, due to geological complexity. This ends any immediate hopes of discovering major new oil reserves.

Second, internal politics are a problem. Most of the region’s gas resources are in the south-east, controlled by the Sulaymaniyah-based PUK. But the PUK’s power has progressively diminished relative to the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which controls the north-west, including Dohuk and the capital Erbil.

This is partly due to the KDP’s tight control over the oil portfolio and its productive alignment with Turkey. Independent parties gained seats in October’s national elections, over discontent with the KDP-PUK duopoly’s corruption, mismanagement and opaque treatment of petroleum revenue.

The PUK does not want to repeat this situation with gas, but exports to Turkey would have to flow through the KDP area. Bafel Talabani, co-chairman of the PUK, said last month that unless contracts were transparent and consensual, “they will have to export gas pipelines over Bafel Jalal Talabani’s dead body”.

In August, the KRG government cancelled two gas licences held by Genel. These large and technically complicated fields could support exports to Turkey. But whatever Erbil’s plans for them, Genel has now launched arbitration, threatening a lengthy legal process. Genel’s shareholders ousted chief executive Bill Higgs from the board of directors on Friday.

Third is the national Iraqi and international political scene. On February 15, the Federal Supreme Court ruled that the Iraq Kurdish region’s 2007 oil and gas law was unconstitutional. This would require Erbil to hand over management of petroleum exports and revenues to Baghdad. The judgment was unexpected, as the case was 10 years old and seemed inactive.

The court is accused of politicisation. Although its ruling won’t be literally enforced any time soon, it could be an Iranian gambit to put pressure on the KDP to fall into line in the interminable process of government formation following October’s elections.

Last month, Iranian missiles badly damaged the house of Baz Karim, the KDP-aligned Kurdish businessman who heads Kar Group. There were further attacks on the company’s refinery near Erbil, possibly part of a campaign of intimidation. On Saturday, there were claims that Kurdish forces had taken control of some of the federal North Oil Company's oil-wells near Kirkuk, later blamed on a fake social media account and denied by the KRG authorities.

In 2014, Baghdad launched international arbitration against Ankara, claiming $24 billion of damages for Kurdish oil shipments through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline, which it claimed breached the 1973 governing treaty, updated in 2010. A ruling is due in July. This also threatens any idea of independent Kurdish gas exports.

To realise their strategic energy potential, the politicians of the Kurdish region of Iraq would first have to put their own house in order. Then they would require support, whether from Washington, Brussels, Ankara, the Gulf or all of them. Until a mutually acceptable deal with Baghdad, the Kurdish queen will remain off the energy chessboard.

Robin M. Mills is chief executive of Qamar Energy and author of 'The Myth of the Oil Crisis'

The language of diplomacy in 1853

Treaty of Peace in Perpetuity Agreed Upon by the Chiefs of the Arabian Coast on Behalf of Themselves, Their Heirs and Successors Under the Mediation of the Resident of the Persian Gulf, 1853
(This treaty gave the region the name “Trucial States”.)


We, whose seals are hereunto affixed, Sheikh Sultan bin Suggar, Chief of Rassool-Kheimah, Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon, Chief of Aboo Dhebbee, Sheikh Saeed bin Buyte, Chief of Debay, Sheikh Hamid bin Rashed, Chief of Ejman, Sheikh Abdoola bin Rashed, Chief of Umm-ool-Keiweyn, having experienced for a series of years the benefits and advantages resulting from a maritime truce contracted amongst ourselves under the mediation of the Resident in the Persian Gulf and renewed from time to time up to the present period, and being fully impressed, therefore, with a sense of evil consequence formerly arising, from the prosecution of our feuds at sea, whereby our subjects and dependants were prevented from carrying on the pearl fishery in security, and were exposed to interruption and molestation when passing on their lawful occasions, accordingly, we, as aforesaid have determined, for ourselves, our heirs and successors, to conclude together a lasting and inviolable peace from this time forth in perpetuity.

Taken from Britain and Saudi Arabia, 1925-1939: the Imperial Oasis, by Clive Leatherdale

Pots for the Asian Qualifiers

Pot 1: Iran, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, China
Pot 2: Iraq, Uzbekistan, Syria, Oman, Lebanon, Kyrgyz Republic, Vietnam, Jordan
Pot 3: Palestine, India, Bahrain, Thailand, Tajikistan, North Korea, Chinese Taipei, Philippines
Pot 4: Turkmenistan, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Yemen, Afghanistan, Maldives, Kuwait, Malaysia
Pot 5: Indonesia, Singapore, Nepal, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Guam, Macau/Sri Lanka

PROFILE OF SWVL

Started: April 2017

Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: transport

Size: 450 employees

Investment: approximately $80 million

Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani

Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale

Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni

Director: Amith Krishnan

Rating: 3.5/5

The President's Cake

Director: Hasan Hadi

Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem 

Rating: 4/5

Du Football Champions

The fourth season of du Football Champions was launched at Gitex on Wednesday alongside the Middle East’s first sports-tech scouting platform.“du Talents”, which enables aspiring footballers to upload their profiles and highlights reels and communicate directly with coaches, is designed to extend the reach of the programme, which has already attracted more than 21,500 players in its first three years.

The team

Videographer: Jear Velasquez 

Photography: Romeo Perez 

Fashion director: Sarah Maisey 

Make-up: Gulum Erzincan at Art Factory 

Models: Meti and Clinton at MMG 

Video assistant: Zanong Maget 

Social media: Fatima Al Mahmoud  

Elvis
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Baz%20Luhrmann%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Austin%20Butler%2C%20Tom%20Hanks%2C%20Olivia%20DeJonge%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile

Started: 2016

Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel 

Based: Ramallah, Palestine

Sector: Technology, Security

# of staff: 13

Investment: $745,000

Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors

Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3EHigh%20fever%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EIntense%20pain%20behind%20your%20eyes%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ESevere%20headache%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EMuscle%20and%20joint%20pains%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ENausea%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EVomiting%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ESwollen%20glands%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ERash%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A%3Cp%3EIf%20symptoms%20occur%2C%20they%20usually%20last%20for%20two-seven%20days%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
When Umm Kulthum performed in Abu Dhabi

  

 

 

 

Known as The Lady of Arabic Song, Umm Kulthum performed in Abu Dhabi on November 28, 1971, as part of celebrations for the fifth anniversary of the accession of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan as Ruler of Abu Dhabi. A concert hall was constructed for the event on land that is now Al Nahyan Stadium, behind Al Wahda Mall. The audience were treated to many of Kulthum's most well-known songs as part of the sold-out show, including Aghadan Alqak and Enta Omri.

 

North Pole stats

Distance covered: 160km

Temperature: -40°C

Weight of equipment: 45kg

Altitude (metres above sea level): 0

Terrain: Ice rock

South Pole stats

Distance covered: 130km

Temperature: -50°C

Weight of equipment: 50kg

Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300

Terrain: Flat ice
 

Profile Periscope Media

Founder: Smeetha Ghosh, one co-founder (anonymous)

Launch year: 2020

Employees: four – plans to add another 10 by July 2021

Financing stage: $250,000 bootstrap funding, approaching VC firms this year

Investors: Co-founders

LILO & STITCH

Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders

Director: Dean Fleischer Camp

Rating: 4.5/5

Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDirect%20Debit%20System%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sept%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20with%20a%20subsidiary%20in%20the%20UK%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Undisclosed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elaine%20Jones%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%208%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Barbie
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Greta%20Gerwig%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Margot%20Robbie%2C%20Ryan%20Gosling%2C%20Will%20Ferrell%2C%20America%20Ferrera%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Gifts exchanged
  • King Charles - replica of President Eisenhower Sword
  • Queen Camilla -  Tiffany & Co vintage 18-carat gold, diamond and ruby flower brooch
  • Donald Trump - hand-bound leather book with Declaration of Independence
  • Melania Trump - personalised Anya Hindmarch handbag
Key findings
  • Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
  • Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase. 
  • People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”. 
  • Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better. 
  • But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.
ALRAWABI%20SCHOOL%20FOR%20GIRLS
%3Cp%3ECreator%3A%20Tima%20Shomali%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%C2%A0Tara%20Abboud%2C%C2%A0Kira%20Yaghnam%2C%20Tara%20Atalla%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
List of alleged parties

 

May 12, 2020: PM and his wife Carrie attend 'work meeting' with at least 17 staff 

May 20, 2020: They attend 'bring your own booze party'

Nov 27, 2020: PM gives speech at leaving party for his staff 

Dec 10, 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary Gavin Williamson 

Dec 13, 2020: PM and his wife throw a party

Dec 14, 2020: London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey holds staff event at Conservative Party headquarters 

Dec 15, 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz 

Dec 18, 2020: Downing Street Christmas party 

The%20new%20Turing%20Test
%3Cp%3EThe%20Coffee%20Test%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cem%3EA%20machine%20is%20required%20to%20enter%20an%20average%20American%20home%20and%20figure%20out%20how%20to%20make%20coffee%3A%20find%20the%20coffee%20machine%2C%20find%20the%20coffee%2C%20add%20water%2C%20find%20a%20mug%20and%20brew%20the%20coffee%20by%20pushing%20the%20proper%20buttons.%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EProposed%20by%20Steve%20Wozniak%2C%20Apple%20co-founder%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dooda%20Solutions%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Lebanon%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENada%20Ghanem%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20AgriTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETotal%20funding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%24300%2C000%20in%20equity-free%20funding%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2011%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
'My Son'

Director: Christian Carion

Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis

Rating: 2/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Updated: May 29, 2023, 1:30 PM