25 May 2018 - 23:16

Rosneft signs gas deal with Erbil, expands dominance in Kurdistan Region

<p style="text-align: left;">Russian oil Rosneft signed a deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to develop the region&rsquo;s gas reserves and build a gas pipeline, expanding the company&rsquo;s dominance in the energy sector of the semi-autonomous region.

Rosneft said on Friday, May 25, that it would conduct a pre-FEED (front engineering and design) of a gas pipeline in Kurdistan as part of its plan to build an integrated gas business value chain in the region, according to Reuters.

Last fall, Rosneft took over ownership of the Kurdistan Region’s crude oil export pipelines to Turkey from the KRG in return for $1.8 billion.

The aim of the deal for Rosneft was not only commercial, but to cement Russia’s political influence in Iraq and the Middle East, according to the Rosneft, oil industry, Kurdish, and Iraqi government sources.

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