Rauf Mammadov told Kurdpress in an interview that Kurds in both Iraq and Syria have control over large amount of natural resources and they are better to review their policies in the field.

What follows in his full answers to Kurdpress questions;

Some analysts believe that the U.S will be in Syria for a longer time, because Kurds control most productive fields in northern Syria, is this analysis true?

The United States has chosen a tactic to put pressure on Bashar al-Assad by depriving the central government of much-needed domestic oil and gas supply. The majority of the oil and gas fields in Syria are concentrated on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, Damascus has become dependent on imports of Iranian crude. Thus, when Iran was focused on exporting as much as possible to the Asian markets and failed to deliver crude cargos to Syria, we witnessed a fuel crisis early this year in Damascus and other government-controlled cities. However, Iran has resumed the shipping of oil to Baniyas refinery since May despite the recent attack on the subsea infrastructure in the adjacent port. Therefore, the U.S. is expected to maintain the tactic to preserve one of its last remaining leverages against the Assad regime.

Can we say that the amount of oil and gas in Kurdish- controlled territories is so high that it may be a source of conflict between Russia and the U.S?

Syria does not hold substantial oil and gas reserves. Even before the civil war, Syria's oil output has reached 380 thousand barrels per day barely sufficient for its domestic consumption. Although Syria is not a formidable oil or gas player, Russia’s deepening energy interest in the country is important for many reasons. First, Syria remains the key element of Russia’s recent pivot to the Middle East and North Africa, in which energy diplomacy plays an important role. Second, the country has promising oil and gas potential, especially, in the East Mediterranean basin, which in light of the race for the territorial waters of Lebanon, Cyprus, and Israel, has become one of the world’s most promising basins. It is especially valuable for Putin’s close friends, who have suffered the impacts of America’s sanctions. Naturally, the geographic location of the country also plays an important role in Russia. Syria borders oil-rich Iraq and is located relatively close to GCC member-states and Europe.

According to some reports the Kurdistan Region will no longer be a major oil producer and game-changer because it does not own that huge amount oil and gas and Turkey's consumption is reducing, how do you see this challenge?

Northern Iraq, namely Kurdistan region currently exports up to 500 thousand barrels per day, which is considered as a substantial export capacity given the size of the semi-autonomy. To put it in a perspective: Iran has been exporting around 500 thousand barrels per day since the U.S. sanctions kicked in this May. Crude from Northern Iraq has traditionally found buyers in the European market or Israel. Refineries of Italy, Spain, Greece and Israel work on light, low sulphur oil that the KRG exports. Thus, consumption decrease in Turkey or, in fact, in any other country in the world does not threaten the demand for its oil. Given that the oil market is globalized, any producer can find a suitable buyer for its crude given the price and logistics realities.

However, the region faces substantial challenges in the face of strategic development of its natural resources, lack of transportation infrastructure, as well as, transparency and proper regulation of its energy industry. KRG's current policy is to ramp up the production and reap the maximum benefit from the exports of its hydrocarbons. In short term perspective this policy could maximize the profits, but, it also could lead to premature exhaustion of its reserves. Therefore, the leadership of the KRG must develop a balanced approach to the issue. Lack of transportation options for its vast gas reserves coupled with corruption-related arbitration cases in the U.K. courts makes the gas industry of the semi-autonomous region an easy prey for Russian interests, especially for Rosneft. On one hand, the presence of the Russian oil giant in its energy sector could help to shield the KRG from domestic or international pressures, on the other hand, it could eventually lead to to the dominance of Rosneft along the value chain.

Reporter’s code: 50101