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Special: Deconstructing the mystery of the repeated targeting of the Kormor field
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2024-04-28 03:20
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2024-04-28 03:20
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Shafaq News/ The repeated attacks on the Kormor gas field lead energy and security experts and officials to the conclusion that there are “regional” motives to curb the aspirations of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq to enter the global gas market.
A drone attack on Friday on the Kormor gas field in the Kurdistan Region led to the killing of four Yemeni workers, and gas supplies to power plants stopped, causing production to decrease by about 2,500 megawatts.
No group has claimed responsibility for the repeated attack for the second time this year, and the eighth in two years.
What is the importance of the Cormor field?
The Kormor gas field has an area of 135 square kilometers and is the largest field producing free gas in Iraq. The proven reserves amount to 8.2 trillion cubic feet, while production reaches 452 million cubic feet of dry gas, 15,000 barrels of condensate, and more than 1,000 metric tons. of liquefied petroleum gas per day.
The field produces the gas necessary to generate 4,200 megawatts of electricity daily, of which 2,800 megawatts are sent to the Kurdistan Region and the rest to the Kirkuk and Nineveh governorates.
This was confirmed by economic expert Nabil Al-Marsoumi in a statement received by Shafaq News Agency, where he added that the field transports natural gas through pipes to the Chamchamal and Erbil power plants, and provides 67% of the Kurdistan Region’s electricity.
Regarding the parties investing in this field, Al-Marsoumi indicates that the foreign investors are “Dana Gas” and “Al-Hilal”, each of which has a 35% share, and 10% for each of the companies “OMV”, “MOL” and “R”. W.E.”
He says that the future vision for the field was to increase the level of production to 630 million standard cubic feet in 2023, but the work was greatly delayed for several reasons, most notably the repeated bombing, which prompted the American company (Extran) to abandon work in the field, which is partially funded through an agreement worth $250 million with US International Development Finance Corporation.
For his part, Dr. Khaled Haider, an academic and economic expert, said during his talk to Shafaq News Agency, “The targeting operations of this field undermine the Kurdistan Region’s access to its gas needs, which forces it to import it in addition to electricity from neighboring countries, and this is what makes us believe that the issue is there.” Regional impact or from specific countries, noting that the recent targeting of the field caused the loss of 2,500 megawatts of electricity, and this is a clear indication of its importance and impact.
Given the existence of plans in the Kurdistan Region in the field of transporting natural gas to Europe, it has begun to receive great international attention in light of the escalating repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis on the energy sector in Europe. Therefore, steps have accelerated towards developing a strategic plan to establish a pipeline to transport natural gas that will start in the future. It originates from the Kormor field and passes through Erbil to end in the city of Dohuk, after which it is connected to a Turkish pipeline network that allows it to be transported to the European Union countries.
This field is located in the Chamchamal district of the Sulaymaniyah Governorate, which is the main center of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Party. This region has undergone changes in its administrative geography, as in the 1970s it was within the Kirkuk Governorate, and after 2003 the Kurdistan Regional Government took control of the region inhabited by a Kurdish majority. .
After 2007, the Kurdistan Regional Government, headed by Nechirvan Barzani at the time, succeeded in attracting a group of energy companies to extract natural gas.
The Pearl consortium, which includes UAE energy company Dana Gas and its subsidiary Crescent Petroleum, owns the rights to exploit Kormor and Chamchamal.
Dana Gas says that production witnessed a significant jump of 50% between 2018 and 2021, reaching 452 million cubic feet, in addition to 15,000 barrels of condensate, and more than 1,000 metric tons of liquefied petroleum gas per day.
The consortium of companies also developed an ambitious plan to carry out maintenance and expansion work on the natural gas processing lines at the Cormor station in order for production to reach 900 million cubic feet per day by 2023, which is considered an important turning point that adds more value to this field.
What is the relationship between Sudanese’s visit to Washington?
In this context, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Tariq Jawhar, speaking to Shafaq News Agency, believes that the recent targeting of the field is linked to the visit of Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani to the United States of America and the energy agreements concluded with Washington.
He added that American companies want to invest more widely in Iraq, especially in the field, as its gas is considered one of the best types used in generating electrical energy, as well as in operating cars, heaters, and home uses.
He added, "The parties that carried out these attacks want America to withdraw its forces and presence from Iraq, and for a state of instability to prevail in the energy investment areas to intimidate American and foreign investment companies, as happened in previous times, in addition to embarrassing the Sudanese government, connected to the previous targeting of Erbil." And energy sources as a whole, and therefore, what happens and happens follows special agendas.
During the meeting held at the White House, President Biden praised the progress made by Iraq towards energy self-sufficiency, and discussed with the Sudanese future cooperation opportunities to ensure that Iraq achieves self-sufficiency by 2030, with the help of American companies.
Biden stressed the United States' continued support for Iraq's efforts to modernize its energy sector, reduce methane emissions, improve public health, provide more reliable electricity to the Iraqi people, and complete electrical network connections with neighboring countries, including ongoing efforts to connect Iraq's network with Jordan and other countries. GCC.
Iran began exporting gas to Iraq in 2017, and according to the contract concluded between the two sides, Iran supplies Iraq with an average of 25 million cubic meters of gas per day.
The US administration grants Iraq a license to import electricity and gas from Iran every six months, and the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity previously announced, on March 27, the signing of a new contract to import gas from Iran for a period of 5 years, and explained that the volume of gas imports will reach 50 million cubic meters per day. .
However, this agreement was followed by discussions by Al-Sudani in Washington that may lead Iraq to reduce its dependence on electricity and gas imported from Iran.
Who is behind the repeated targeting?
Jabbar Yawar, the former Secretary-General of the Ministry of Peshmerga, said in his interview with Shafaq News Agency, that the field has been targeted many times by various attacks by unknown parties despite the formation of joint committees between the governments of Baghdad and Erbil, but it is certain that these groups are the same ones that stand against the interests of The region and Baghdad stand in the way of stability in the region.
Othman Zindani, a member of the Leadership Council of the Kurdistan Communist Party, also believes in a statement to Shafaq News Agency, that the parties behind the repeated targeting of the field are parties with a political agenda behind them, although the identity of the perpetrators is not clear, but if we want to have a political reading of the scene, then certainly Fingers of accusation will be pointed at internal, external and regional parties, and since the accusation of any party, entity or state falls within the category of sensitive legal and political issues, we will not reveal the names of those parties, but we believe that the matter does not go beyond the political conflict in the region and the agenda that wants to weaken the region.
Political targeting and intelligence shortcomings
For his part, security expert Sarmad Al-Bayati, speaking to Shafaq News Agency, believes that the lack of a radar system to detect aircraft was an important reason for targeting the field, noting that Iraq agreed with the American side to provide it with 6 systems to detect aircraft in the hope that it will end the control of the drones over these areas.
He confirms that politics is linked to economics, and there is no separation between them, especially since the agreements that Iraq recently concluded with Turkey and Qatar have disturbed some parties, as well as the fact that the field is a gas producer that may be exported to Europe, and this will reflect negatively on some countries in the region and outside it.
In general, there is a dispute that extends for years between Baghdad and Kurdistan over the oil and gas file, especially after the Federal Court’s recent decision to invalidate the oil and gas contracts signed by the Kurdistan Regional Government with foreign companies.
In May 2022, the North Oil Company, affiliated with the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, accused the Kurdish Peshmerga forces of controlling a group of fields, including the Kormor field. This dispute was accompanied by an escalation of the media campaign adopted by some parties close to the Shiite “coordination framework,” which was met with a kind of From the mobilization of the Turkmen public in Kirkuk.
After a month of dispute at that time, the Kormor field was subjected to three missile attacks within close days.
The political advisor to the Kurdistan Parliament, Mahmoud Khoshnaw, told Shafaq News Agency, “The unruly groups that target the field are active in the security vacuum areas between the borders of the region’s authorities and the borders of the federal government’s authorities, which are adjacent to the disputed areas.” He pointed out that the Kormor field was targeted from the southwest of the field, which is Areas are dense and need the presence of security forces, stressing that the two governments agreed some time ago to form joint forces to control the land, but it is a decision that has not seen the light of day.
He pointed out that the groups targeting the fields do not belong to a specific party, but rather work for internal and external agendas, and according to what the other party requires.
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A drone attack on Friday on the Kormor gas field in the Kurdistan Region led to the killing of four Yemeni workers, and gas supplies to power plants stopped, causing production to decrease by about 2,500 megawatts.
No group has claimed responsibility for the repeated attack for the second time this year, and the eighth in two years.
What is the importance of the Cormor field?
The Kormor gas field has an area of 135 square kilometers and is the largest field producing free gas in Iraq. The proven reserves amount to 8.2 trillion cubic feet, while production reaches 452 million cubic feet of dry gas, 15,000 barrels of condensate, and more than 1,000 metric tons. of liquefied petroleum gas per day.
The field produces the gas necessary to generate 4,200 megawatts of electricity daily, of which 2,800 megawatts are sent to the Kurdistan Region and the rest to the Kirkuk and Nineveh governorates.
This was confirmed by economic expert Nabil Al-Marsoumi in a statement received by Shafaq News Agency, where he added that the field transports natural gas through pipes to the Chamchamal and Erbil power plants, and provides 67% of the Kurdistan Region’s electricity.
Regarding the parties investing in this field, Al-Marsoumi indicates that the foreign investors are “Dana Gas” and “Al-Hilal”, each of which has a 35% share, and 10% for each of the companies “OMV”, “MOL” and “R”. W.E.”
He says that the future vision for the field was to increase the level of production to 630 million standard cubic feet in 2023, but the work was greatly delayed for several reasons, most notably the repeated bombing, which prompted the American company (Extran) to abandon work in the field, which is partially funded through an agreement worth $250 million with US International Development Finance Corporation.
For his part, Dr. Khaled Haider, an academic and economic expert, said during his talk to Shafaq News Agency, “The targeting operations of this field undermine the Kurdistan Region’s access to its gas needs, which forces it to import it in addition to electricity from neighboring countries, and this is what makes us believe that the issue is there.” Regional impact or from specific countries, noting that the recent targeting of the field caused the loss of 2,500 megawatts of electricity, and this is a clear indication of its importance and impact.
Given the existence of plans in the Kurdistan Region in the field of transporting natural gas to Europe, it has begun to receive great international attention in light of the escalating repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis on the energy sector in Europe. Therefore, steps have accelerated towards developing a strategic plan to establish a pipeline to transport natural gas that will start in the future. It originates from the Kormor field and passes through Erbil to end in the city of Dohuk, after which it is connected to a Turkish pipeline network that allows it to be transported to the European Union countries.
This field is located in the Chamchamal district of the Sulaymaniyah Governorate, which is the main center of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Party. This region has undergone changes in its administrative geography, as in the 1970s it was within the Kirkuk Governorate, and after 2003 the Kurdistan Regional Government took control of the region inhabited by a Kurdish majority. .
After 2007, the Kurdistan Regional Government, headed by Nechirvan Barzani at the time, succeeded in attracting a group of energy companies to extract natural gas.
The Pearl consortium, which includes UAE energy company Dana Gas and its subsidiary Crescent Petroleum, owns the rights to exploit Kormor and Chamchamal.
Dana Gas says that production witnessed a significant jump of 50% between 2018 and 2021, reaching 452 million cubic feet, in addition to 15,000 barrels of condensate, and more than 1,000 metric tons of liquefied petroleum gas per day.
The consortium of companies also developed an ambitious plan to carry out maintenance and expansion work on the natural gas processing lines at the Cormor station in order for production to reach 900 million cubic feet per day by 2023, which is considered an important turning point that adds more value to this field.
What is the relationship between Sudanese’s visit to Washington?
In this context, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Tariq Jawhar, speaking to Shafaq News Agency, believes that the recent targeting of the field is linked to the visit of Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani to the United States of America and the energy agreements concluded with Washington.
He added that American companies want to invest more widely in Iraq, especially in the field, as its gas is considered one of the best types used in generating electrical energy, as well as in operating cars, heaters, and home uses.
He added, "The parties that carried out these attacks want America to withdraw its forces and presence from Iraq, and for a state of instability to prevail in the energy investment areas to intimidate American and foreign investment companies, as happened in previous times, in addition to embarrassing the Sudanese government, connected to the previous targeting of Erbil." And energy sources as a whole, and therefore, what happens and happens follows special agendas.
During the meeting held at the White House, President Biden praised the progress made by Iraq towards energy self-sufficiency, and discussed with the Sudanese future cooperation opportunities to ensure that Iraq achieves self-sufficiency by 2030, with the help of American companies.
Biden stressed the United States' continued support for Iraq's efforts to modernize its energy sector, reduce methane emissions, improve public health, provide more reliable electricity to the Iraqi people, and complete electrical network connections with neighboring countries, including ongoing efforts to connect Iraq's network with Jordan and other countries. GCC.
Iran began exporting gas to Iraq in 2017, and according to the contract concluded between the two sides, Iran supplies Iraq with an average of 25 million cubic meters of gas per day.
The US administration grants Iraq a license to import electricity and gas from Iran every six months, and the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity previously announced, on March 27, the signing of a new contract to import gas from Iran for a period of 5 years, and explained that the volume of gas imports will reach 50 million cubic meters per day. .
However, this agreement was followed by discussions by Al-Sudani in Washington that may lead Iraq to reduce its dependence on electricity and gas imported from Iran.
Who is behind the repeated targeting?
Jabbar Yawar, the former Secretary-General of the Ministry of Peshmerga, said in his interview with Shafaq News Agency, that the field has been targeted many times by various attacks by unknown parties despite the formation of joint committees between the governments of Baghdad and Erbil, but it is certain that these groups are the same ones that stand against the interests of The region and Baghdad stand in the way of stability in the region.
Othman Zindani, a member of the Leadership Council of the Kurdistan Communist Party, also believes in a statement to Shafaq News Agency, that the parties behind the repeated targeting of the field are parties with a political agenda behind them, although the identity of the perpetrators is not clear, but if we want to have a political reading of the scene, then certainly Fingers of accusation will be pointed at internal, external and regional parties, and since the accusation of any party, entity or state falls within the category of sensitive legal and political issues, we will not reveal the names of those parties, but we believe that the matter does not go beyond the political conflict in the region and the agenda that wants to weaken the region.
Political targeting and intelligence shortcomings
For his part, security expert Sarmad Al-Bayati, speaking to Shafaq News Agency, believes that the lack of a radar system to detect aircraft was an important reason for targeting the field, noting that Iraq agreed with the American side to provide it with 6 systems to detect aircraft in the hope that it will end the control of the drones over these areas.
He confirms that politics is linked to economics, and there is no separation between them, especially since the agreements that Iraq recently concluded with Turkey and Qatar have disturbed some parties, as well as the fact that the field is a gas producer that may be exported to Europe, and this will reflect negatively on some countries in the region and outside it.
In general, there is a dispute that extends for years between Baghdad and Kurdistan over the oil and gas file, especially after the Federal Court’s recent decision to invalidate the oil and gas contracts signed by the Kurdistan Regional Government with foreign companies.
In May 2022, the North Oil Company, affiliated with the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, accused the Kurdish Peshmerga forces of controlling a group of fields, including the Kormor field. This dispute was accompanied by an escalation of the media campaign adopted by some parties close to the Shiite “coordination framework,” which was met with a kind of From the mobilization of the Turkmen public in Kirkuk.
After a month of dispute at that time, the Kormor field was subjected to three missile attacks within close days.
The political advisor to the Kurdistan Parliament, Mahmoud Khoshnaw, told Shafaq News Agency, “The unruly groups that target the field are active in the security vacuum areas between the borders of the region’s authorities and the borders of the federal government’s authorities, which are adjacent to the disputed areas.” He pointed out that the Kormor field was targeted from the southwest of the field, which is Areas are dense and need the presence of security forces, stressing that the two governments agreed some time ago to form joint forces to control the land, but it is a decision that has not seen the light of day.
He pointed out that the groups targeting the fields do not belong to a specific party, but rather work for internal and external agendas, and according to what the other party requires.
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