ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani inaugurated a major $591-million Erbil-Duhok natural gas pipeline on Tuesday, stressing its importance in achieving 24-hour electricity for the Region and noting that such projects will soon give Erbil the capacity to boost electricity supply to Baghdad and other neighboring areas.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has long worked to enhance and diversify its energy sources, enjoying relative success compared to areas under the jurisdiction of the Baghdad government. Parts of federal Iraq repeatedly face blackouts due to dependence on foreign imports and inadequate infrastructure.

"This is a very strategic and important project to increase gas production and to more easily provide 24-hour electricity," Prime Minister Barzani said. 

He stressed the abundance of natural resources on offer in the Region, asserting that they should be "in the service of all citizens."

"We want to benefit from the Kurdistan Region's natural resources and better serve the Kurdistan Region's people," Barzani noted.

The premier highlighted that gas production in the Kurdistan Region has "doubled" following greater government investment and support for companies, including Dana Gas and Kar Group. This has helped boost the electricity supply and positions "Kurdistan as a place for providing electricity to all of Iraq and the surrounding areas as well" in the near future.

The system receives natural gas through a pipeline that runs from the Khor Mor field to Erbil and Duhok. The pipeline itself is 192 kilometers long.

Barzani also noted that as part of the government’s ongoing program, another project is underway in Sulaimani province to extend the gas pipeline between Khor Mor and Chamchamal.

Located in Sulaimani’s Chamchamal district, Khor Mor is a major gas field in the Kurdistan Region that boasts significant economic and strategic importance. It is operated by Dana Gas, which, alongside affiliate Crescent Petroleum, agreed a deal with KRG in 2007 to develop the Region’s gas capacities. 

Kamal Mohammed, the Kurdistan Region’s Minister of Electricity, also emphasized the importance of the project at the inauguration event, calling it "a strategic and important project" that marks "another achievement for this region."

"For 14 years, this Kashe [power] station has been in service … and this is the first time we deliver gas to this station, and this station operates with gas," Mohammad said. 

He emphasized that with the project now in effect, "issues" that were faced previously are all solved.

Prime Minister Barzani announced the Runaki Project in October last year, which seeks to supply 24-hour electricity to the entire Kurdistan Region by 2026, with over four million residents currently enjoying the benefits of the initiative.

Most of the electricity production in the Kurdistan Region is powered by natural gas.

Runaki aims to eliminate chronic electricity issues in the Kurdistan Region and has led to over 3,000 private power generators being phased out, with the KRG aiming to shut off 7,000 generators by the end of the project’s implementation.