KRG Ministry of Natural Resources

21 March 2013

Berlin, Germany (KRG.org) - Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani met with Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday on the sidelines of an international conference on energy security and foreign affairs held in Berlin.

During their discussions, Prime Minister Barzani briefed Chancellor Merkel on the political situation in Iraq.

The prime minister said the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) remained determined to help Iraq find lasting solutions to all its outstanding issues through constructive dialogue and adherence to the permanent, federal Constitution.

On the issue of natural resources, Prime Minister Barzani said that the KRG and Iraq could play an important role in helping Turkey, Germany and Europe diversify energy sources and ensure security of supply.

Earlier, Prime Minister Barzani delivered a speech in Berlin's historic Reichstag building to a conference on foreign policy and energy security organized by the CDU/CSU faction in the federal German parliament. The CDU party is headed by Chancellor Merkel.

In his speech, the prime minister said that the progress made by the KRG since 2007 in developing its oil and gas industry was helping Iraq meet its export and revenue targets.

He said that the renewed focus of German foreign policy on energy security was an opportunity to strengthen its partnership with Kurdistan Region and Iraq.

Prime Minister Barzani said the large reserves of oil and gas discovered in Kurdistan since 2007 can help Europe secure its future energy supplies.

“Once our domestic needs have been met, the KRG can help to contribute to the long-term gas supply needs of Turkey and Europe, as a reliable partner for both,” he said.

The prime minister said the KRG was working hard to build additional export infrastructure for Iraq.

“The discoveries are there in the oil fields of Kurdistan, but we must also focus on getting the oil and gas to market,” he said.  “Not just from the fields in Kurdistan, but from the other adjacent areas of Iraq.”

With the right export infrastructure in place, by 2019, over 3 million barrels per day could be flowing through Iraq’s northern energy corridor to international markets, Prime Minister Barzani said.

“All this means a large increase in revenues for Iraq as a whole,” he said.

The resulting economic growth would, he said, “contribute to the stability and unity of Iraq.”