LONDON: Russian oil major Rosneft will invest in gas pipelines in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan, expanding its commitment to the region ahead of an independence referendum to help it become a major exporter of gas to Turkey and Europe.
Kurdistan’s Parliament approved a plan on Friday to hold a referendum on independence on Sept. 25, ignoring opposition from Baghdad and the wider region as well as Western concerns that the vote could heighten tensions in the region.
Kurdistan has been exporting oil independently from Baghdad since 2014 and Kremlin-controlled Rosneft joined the list of buyers this year, lending the region hundreds of millions of dollars in loans guaranteed by future oil sales.
Now Rosneft is widening its investments to gas by agreeing to fund a natural gas pipeline in Kurdistan, Rosneft and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said on Monday. Two sources close to the deal said the investments would amount to more than $1 billion.
Erbil, the seat of the KRG in northern Iraq, needs money to fund the fight against Daesh and ease a budget crisis caused by low oil prices.
Kurdistan has relied on oil pre-finance deals to improve its fiscal position but has struggled to develop its large gas reserves.
For Rosneft, the world’s largest publicly listed oil company by production, the deal is a major boost to its international gas ambitions. Rosneft has long sought to challenge Gazprom, Russia’s gas export monopoly, in supplying gas to Europe.
For Turkey, it means the arrival of new supplies for its energy-hungry economy and the potential to become a major center for gas supplies to Europe.
The pipeline’s capacity is expected to handle up to 30 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas exports a year, in addition to supplying domestic users. Kurdistan sits on some of the largest untapped gas deposits on Europe’s doorstep.
The volumes that Rosneft wants to help Kurdistan supply to export markets represent 6 percent of total European gas demand and one-sixth of current gas export volumes by Russia, by far the largest supplier of gas to Europe.
The pipeline will be constructed in 2019 for Kurdish domestic use, with exports due to begin in 2020.
“Successful implementation of the project ... will enable Rosneft to play a leading role in the building and expanding Kurdistan Region’s gas transport infrastructure and create synergy with existing projects for development of the oil and gas fields of the five blocks awarded to the company,” Rosneft said.
Rosneft secured a deal to develop five fields and has also agreed to help the region expand its oil pipeline infrastructure through which crude is exported via Turkey to global markets.
Kurdistan is seeking to boost oil exports to 1 million barrels per day (bpd) by the end of this decade from the current 0.65 million bpd.
The statement said Rosneft and the KRG had finished inspecting Kurdistan’s oil export pipelines and Rosneft would soon complete developing final documents for the expansion project.
Rosneft agreed to help Kurdistan expand the oil pipeline via so-called monetization, when investments are repaid via tariffs and oil flows.
Kurdish oil production has been mainly led in recent years by mid-sized firms such as Genel and DNO. Larger companies such as Exxon Mobil and Chevron are still at the exploratory stage.
Rosneft wins major Kurdistan gas deal
Rosneft wins major Kurdistan gas deal
Pakistan PM meets IAEA chief in Vienna, witnesses nuclear medicine cooperation deal signing
- INMOL Lahore designated as IAEA Collaborating Center to expand cancer treatment cooperation
- Sharif calls sustainable and inclusive development the only path to peace amid global ‘polycrisis’
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi in Vienna on Tuesday and witnessed the signing of a cooperation agreement designating Pakistan’s Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Oncology (INMOL), Lahore, as an IAEA Collaborating Center.
The meeting took place at the Vienna International Center, home to several UN agencies. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Grossi signed the Collaborating Center Agreement on behalf of Pakistan and the IAEA, respectively. The IAEA chief presented a plaque formally designating INMOL as a Collaborating Center, in a ceremony witnessed by Sharif.
“The Prime Minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s support for IAEA’s role in the promotion of responsible use of nuclear technology in areas such as cancer diagnosis and treatment, agriculture, nuclear power generation and industrial applications,” said a statement circulated by Sharif’s office in Islamabad.
“He praised the strong partnership between Pakistan and the IAEA, while observing that Pakistan was not only a beneficiary of the IAEA’s Technical Cooperation Programme but was also contributing to the work of the IAEA through the provision of its experts and conducting international trainings for IAEA Member States,” it added.
The statement said Grossi acknowledged Pakistan’s experience and expertise in the peaceful uses of nuclear technology and commended the quality of its engineers, scientists and technicians.
He maintained Pakistan was well placed to assist other IAEA member states in expanding peaceful nuclear applications and expressed interest in Pakistan’s participation at the Nuclear Energy Summit scheduled in France in March 2026.
The IAEA chief visited Pakistan last year to review cooperation on the peaceful uses of nuclear technology, including cancer diagnosis and treatment, as well as applications in energy and agriculture.
His engagements included visits to Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission cancer hospitals, inauguration of advanced treatment facilities and discussions with Sharif on expanding collaboration under the IAEA’s “Rays of Hope” initiative aimed at improving radiotherapy access in developing countries.
’POLYCRISIS’
Sharif also addressed a special event at the United Nations Office in Vienna, calling for sustainable and inclusive development to be treated as the world’s foremost conflict-prevention strategy, warning that overlapping geopolitical tensions, climate stress and technological disruption are converging into a global “polycrisis.”
“Our world stands at crossroads,” Sharif said. “We face intertwined crises. The defining danger of our time is not any single threat, rather it’s the combination of many.”
“Geopolitical hostility, climate stress, and technological disruption are all converging into a single destabilizing force,” he added. “The planet is facing a moment of polycrisis.”
Sharif argued that sustainable and inclusive development was the most effective long-term strategy to prevent conflict, stressing that developing nations bore the heaviest burden of climate change despite contributing the least to global emissions.
“Pakistan’s own experience is illustrative,” he said. “We stand at the front lines of the climate crisis, not through any fault of ours, but as one of its most disproportionate victims.”
He said Pakistan, which contributes less than one percent of global emissions, continues to face severe climate impacts, including devastating floods in recent years that destroyed homes, farmland and infrastructure.
Sharif also called for strengthening multilateral institutions, including the United Nations system, to better address emerging global challenges and ensure that innovation and new technologies benefit all countries rather than deepen existing divides.
