EU interested in importing Iraqi natural gas National - Voices of Iraq
Wednesday , 23 /05 /2007 Time 5:04:09 </B>
By Dergham Mohammad Ali EU-Gas
EU interested in importing Iraqi natural gas
By Dergham Mohammad Ali
Baghdad, May 23, (VOI) - A visiting European Union delegation said that EU countries are interested in importing Iraqi natural gas from the Ekas field in southern Iraq, the spokesman for the Iraqi Oil Ministry said on Wednesday.

"EU representatives held talks this week with oil ministry officials, headed by oil minister Hussein al-Shahrestani, and expressed EU countries’ interest in importing Iraqi natural gas from the Ekas field, a huge field that extends from Ninewa province to the southern borders of Saudi Arabia," Essam Jihad told the independent news agency voices of Iraq (VOI).
"Ekas is one of the fields included in the ministry's development plan. It has a production capacity of 100,000 barrels per day, in addition to possible large amounts of gas in the western region that may turn Iraq into one of the largest natural gas producers in the Middle East region," he added.
"The delegation expressed desire to transport gas through the joint Arab pipeline that passes through a number of Arab countries: Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and through Turkey towards the EU," he also said, noting that the delegation expressed interest in importing the whole production.
"Large steps have been taken towards concluding the agreement and the EU delegation is interested in participating to develop Iraq’s oil fields," the spokesman affirmed.

Aswat Aliraq