Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 8
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
The gas to be supplied to Turkey from Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq is vital for Ankara, said Salihe Kaya, researcher at Turkey-based Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA).
"Against the backdrop of diversification of natural gas supplies, the KRG can be an important source of supply for Ankara," she told Trend Jan. 7.
"For Ankara, natural gas from the KRG will be much cheaper than the gas from other sources," added Kaya.
A tender will be held Feb. 9, 2016 in Ankara for constructing a new gas pipeline between Turkey and the KRG. Both local and foreign companies are allowed to participate in the tender. The tender's winner will build the new gas pipeline in 720 days.
The pipeline's length will be 181.5 kilometers.
Iraqi media earlier said that the volume of natural gas reserves on KRG's territory stand at five trillion cubic meters.
KRG and Ankara signed a 50-year contract in 2013 for natural gas supply to Turkey.
As it is expected, after completion of construction of a new gas pipeline, KRG will deliver 10 billion cubic meters of gas to Turkey. The volume of the gas supplied from Iraq to Turkey will reach 20 billion cubic meters by 2020.
Turkey imports 6.6 billion cubic meters of gas per year from Azerbaijan on the basis of a 'take or pay' contract. Turkey also buys 9.6 billion cubic meters of gas from Iran on the basis of a contract that is valid until July 2026.
Ankara also has agreements with Algeria (from 1988 to October 2024) and Nigeria (from 1995 to October 2021) for supply of 4.4 billion cubic meters and 1.3 billion cubic meters of liquefied gas per year, respectively.
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