Prime Highlights

• Pearl Petroleum plans a $10.2 billion investment to more than double natural gas production in Iraq’s Kurdistan region by 2035.
• The project will expand the Khor Mor and Chemchemal gas fields, strengthening Iraq’s energy capacity.

Key Facts

• Pearl Petroleum has invested over $3.9 billion in the region’s gas infrastructure since 2007.
• The expansion is expected to boost energy security, create jobs, and rank among Iraq’s largest private energy investments.

Background

Pearl Petroleum plans to invest $10.2 billion in Iraq’s Kurdistan region over the next decade, marking one of the largest energy development programmes in the country.

The company’s latest impact assessment study, cited by Rudaw, outlines plans to channel the investment into the Khor Mor and Chemchemal gas reserves in Sulaymaniyah province.

The goal is to push natural gas production from 750 million cubic feet per day to 1.65 billion cubic feet per day, more than doubling current capacity.

Pearl Petroleum has operated in the Kurdistan region since 2007 and has already committed over $3.9 billion to natural gas infrastructure there. The company currently supplies most of the fuel powering electricity generation across the region.

The expanded output is expected to do more than boost supply numbers. Pearl Petroleum says the development will create thousands of jobs, strengthen local supply chains and cut Iraq’s dependence on imported fuels.

As demand for electricity continues to climb across the country, the added gas capacity will directly support power generation and long-term energy security.

Upon completion, the development is expected to rank among the largest private energy investments ever made in Iraq, further strengthening the Kurdistan region’s importance in the country’s energy sector.

Together with Dana Gas and other international partners, the consortium has grown into one of the biggest private investors in Iraq’s energy sector.