Major oil discovery made near Zakho
Khaled Salih
Zakho - June 11, 2006 (KRG.org) - A major discovery of oil has been made near Zakho in the northwest corner of Iraqi Kurdistan, said Dr Ashti A Hawrami, the Minister of Natural Resources for the Kurdistan Regional Government. “I am pleased to announce that commercially recoverable quantities of oil have been discovered following the drilling of an exploratory well in the Tawke structure. The well has been tested at 5,000 barrels a day of good quality oil from one of the upper zones of interest,” said Dr Hawrami.
The discovery was made by the Norwegian oil company DNO, which started drilling in exploration territory in the Dohuk Governorate in November 2005 after signing a production sharing contract with the Kurdistan Regional Government a year earlier.
“This is not just good news for the Kurdistan Region but for all of Iraq”, said Dr Hawrami. “The Tawke discovery is from the first new well drilled in Iraq since Saddam’s overthrow. We anticipate production by early 2007, which will allow for the export of oil along a completely secure route from the one fully secure part of Iraq. The Tawke discovery is the first product of the partnership between the government and international oil companies in the new Iraq. It will boost Iraq’s total production and exports and as a result everyone wins.”
Dr Hawrami added, “Today’s announcement is the direct result of Iraq’s new political and constitutional arrangements which enable the people and government of the Kurdistan Region to explore for, and develop, the oil in our territory. For decades, the people of Kurdistan in Iraq have seen our oil used to finance repression and the physical destruction of our land. Now, we control our own resources which we will exploit for the benefit of the people of the Kurdistan Region and all Iraqis.”
The Iraqi Constitution, which was ratified on 15 October 2005, gives regional governments the right to explore for, and develop, petroleum from new fields (those not already in commercial production) on their territory. It also explicitly recognises as valid contracts made by the Kurdistan Regional Government since 1992, which includes production sharing contracts such as the one signed with DNO on 25 June 2004.
“On a personal note,” Dr Hawrami said, “this news is most auspicious possible beginning to my tenure as the Natural Resources Minister and I expect to have more such announcements in the months to come.”
Dr Hawrami, a former oil industry executive in the UK, was appointed Minister for Natural Resources in May.
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