Kuwait's energy company signs gas deals with Iraq

Chairman of the Board of Directors and Managing Director of Kuwait Energy Company Dr. Mansour Boukhamseen has highlighted the freshly-signed deal between the Kuwait Energy Company and Iraq to develop two gas fields in Siba and Mansuriya describing them as constituting a positive move on the path of enhancing the bilateral relations between Kuwait and Iraq. This agreement is not solely an achievement for the company; it is the starting point for establishment of a partnership that will benefit the Iraqi people and state, said Dr. Mansour Boukhamseen said in remarks to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) on Tuesday. Earlier Sunday, Kuwait Energy Company signed two deals with the Iraqi Oil Ministry to develop the Siba and Mansuriya gas fields over a 20-year period. The produced gas will be used in generating power for the major cities of Baghdad and Basra, as part of a state plan to decrease costs and to be environmentally friendly. And, the company will carry out the project along with its two consortium partners, Turkey's state-owned TPAO and South Korea's KOGAS. The deal, Boukhamseen added, depicted affirmation of effective contribution by such a private company in securing new jobs, enhancing productivity and improving the economy of Iraq. Kuwait Energy Co. has been successful at the Middle East level with oil investment portfolios, totally or partially owned by it, in Egypt, Iraq, Oman and Yemen, as well as in non-Arab countries such as the Ukraine, Latvia, Russia and Pakistan. "Our strategy aims at acquiring stakes in small and medium and mature fields as well as in fields where other companies failed," he said, citing Egypt as an example of the success -- where it recorded 11 oil explorations at fields acquired from other companies.