Kurdish hopes of exporting natural gas from northern Iraq have been bolstered by a German company's offer of assistance.
On Friday, the big German gas and power company RWE signed a co-operation agreement with the regional government of the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan. The object is to create pipeline routes and other infrastructure for marketing Kurdish gas.
RWE said it also hoped to forge "supply agreements to enable gas from the region to be transported to Turkey and Europe via the Nabucco pipeline".
The utility is a member of the Nabucco consortium, which is seeking to build a ?7.9 billion (Dh37.04bn) pipeline to move gas from the Middle East and central Asia to Europe through Turkey. The group will hold an "open season" this year to gauge customer support before making a final investment decision early next year. But it is still seeking firm gas supplies.
Last week, the consortium said it would build branch lines to intersect Turkey's borders with Georgia and Iraq, postponing for political reasons a proposed branch to Iran. Nabucco now hopes to start moving gas from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iraq in early 2015. But the only Iraqi fields ready to export gas in that period are in Kurdistan.
Nabucco's other partners include OMV, the Austrian petroleum group 20 per cent owned by Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Company, Hungary's MOL, Romania's Transgaz, Bulgarian Energy Holding and the Turkish state-owned pipeline company Botas. OMV and MOL are also in partnership with the Sharjah companies Crescent Petroleum and Dana Gasto develop two big Kurdish gas and condensate fields.
Independently, MOL has discovered a third gasfield in the region and is seeking to develop the find with its 20 per cent partner Gulf Keystone, a Bermuda-registered company with links to Sharjah.
Ashti Hawrami, the Kurdish natural resources minister, said the agreement with RWE would provide the means for Iraqi Kurds to benefit more fully from the region's gas reserves and for all Iraqis to benefit from export revenues.
"This will fund the reconstruction of the whole country after the disruption and neglect of the past," he said. "The location of gas reserves in the Kurdistan region of Iraq makes them ideally placed to gain access to the secure and profitable European gas market. Transporting this gas - up to 20 billion cubic metres a year - through the Nabucco pipeline is a priority for us."
Mr Hawrami said the deal would also "serve to cement" the Kurdish region's "already good relations with Europe and Turkey".
The relationships are crucial because Kurdistan may need considerable international support to get its gas across the Turkish border. To date, a long-running dispute between the regional government and Baghdad over natural resources jurisdiction has hampered Kurdish efforts to develop a legitimate oil and gas export stream.
Hopes of a reconciliation after the Iraqi national election last March are in limbo because of Iraq's failure to form a new government.
This month, however, Russian sources revealed that Ayad Allawi, the leader of the Iraqiyya bloc, which won the most seats in the election, was a director of Crescent. A political alliance between the Kurdish government and Iraqiyya may be in the making.
At the same time, the Iraqi Kurdish leadership has been mending fences with Ankara, which is at odds with the restive Kurdish population of south-east Turkey.
RWE could help Kurdistan build on this groundwork. Independently of Nabucco, the German company has been developing business in Turkey. In May, it announced a final decision to build a ?500 million gas-fired power plant near Denizli in western Turkey.
As RWE has sought to drive Nabucco's agenda forward against stiff competition from Russia's South Stream pipeline project, the company has also held talks with Caspian states. That cleared the way for a meeting in Berlin last February between the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the Azerbaijani president, Ilham Aliyev.
Ten months earlier, RWE signed a partnership agreement with Turkmenistan on gas exploration and exports. So far, Nabucco's project map does not show a branch extending as far east as Kurdistan, but the chances of timely gas exports from the rest of Iraq are poor.
@Email:tcarlisle@thenational.ae
The specs
Engine: 0.8-litre four cylinder
Power: 70bhp
Torque: 66Nm
Transmission: four-speed manual
Price: $1,075 new in 1967, now valued at $40,000
On sale: Models from 1966 to 1970
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
MATCH INFO
Cricket World Cup League Two
Oman, UAE, Namibia
Al Amerat, Muscat
Results
Oman beat UAE by five wickets
UAE beat Namibia by eight runs
Namibia beat Oman by 52 runs
UAE beat Namibia by eight wickets
UAE v Oman - abandoned
Oman v Namibia - abandoned
If you go...
Etihad flies daily from Abu Dhabi to Zurich, with fares starting from Dh2,807 return. Frequent high speed trains between Zurich and Vienna make stops at St. Anton.
FIXTURES
Monday, January 28
Iran v Japan, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)
Tuesday, January 29
UAEv Qatar, Mohamed Bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)
Friday, February 1
Final, Zayed Sports City Stadium (6pm)
Race card
6.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 82,500 (Dirt) 1.600m
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 82,500 (D) 2,000m
7.50pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 82,500 (D) 1,600m
8.15pm: The Garhoud Sprint Listed (TB) Dh 132,500 (D) 1,200m
8.50pm: The Entisar Listed (TB) Dh 132,500 (D) 2,000m
9.25pm: Conditions (TB) Dh 120,000 (D) 1,400m
The biog
Family: He is the youngest of five brothers, of whom two are dentists.
Celebrities he worked on: Fabio Canavaro, Lojain Omran, RedOne, Saber Al Rabai.
Where he works: Liberty Dental Clinic
Race results:
1. Thani Al Qemzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi: 46.44 min
2. Peter Morin (FRA) CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team: 0.91sec
3. Sami Selio (FIN) Mad-Croc Baba Racing Team: 31.43sec
What is Folia?
Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal's new plant-based menu will launch at Four Seasons hotels in Dubai this November. A desire to cater to people looking for clean, healthy meals beyond green salad is what inspired Prince Khaled and American celebrity chef Matthew Kenney to create Folia. The word means "from the leaves" in Latin, and the exclusive menu offers fine plant-based cuisine across Four Seasons properties in Los Angeles, Bahrain and, soon, Dubai.
Kenney specialises in vegan cuisine and is the founder of Plant Food Wine and 20 other restaurants worldwide. "I’ve always appreciated Matthew’s work," says the Saudi royal. "He has a singular culinary talent and his approach to plant-based dining is prescient and unrivalled. I was a fan of his long before we established our professional relationship."
Folia first launched at The Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills in July 2018. It is available at the poolside Cabana Restaurant and for in-room dining across the property, as well as in its private event space. The food is vibrant and colourful, full of fresh dishes such as the hearts of palm ceviche with California fruit, vegetables and edible flowers; green hearb tacos filled with roasted squash and king oyster barbacoa; and a savoury coconut cream pie with macadamia crust.
In March 2019, the Folia menu reached Gulf shores, as it was introduced at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay, where it is served at the Bay View Lounge. Next, on Tuesday, November 1 – also known as World Vegan Day – it will come to the UAE, to the Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach and the Four Seasons DIFC, both properties Prince Khaled has spent "considerable time at and love".
There are also plans to take Folia to several more locations throughout the Middle East and Europe.
While health-conscious diners will be attracted to the concept, Prince Khaled is careful to stress Folia is "not meant for a specific subset of customers. It is meant for everyone who wants a culinary experience without the negative impact that eating out so often comes with."
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Tour de France
When: July 7-29
UAE Team Emirates:
Dan Martin, Alexander Kristoff, Darwin Atapuma, Marco Marcato, Kristijan Durasek, Oliviero Troia, Roberto Ferrari and Rory Sutherland
