The Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) believes it can generate significant revenue by helping alleviate Turkish power shortages, KRG Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani said on Thursday.
Turkey consumes some 50 billion cubic meters of gas annually, receiving up to 60 percent of its supplies from Russia, according to Turcas, a Turkish energy company.
“[There is] no secret that Turkey has major shortages of power and they need power… gas that can turn to power or actual power that could come from Kurdistan,” Talabani stated at a conference hosted by the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC.
The power sector, Talbani continued, could generate significant revenues for the Iraqi Kurdistan region.
Iraqi Kurdistan is in a difficult financial position, he noted, because Iraq’s central government is not allocating the required amount of funding.
The KRG has reached out to leaders across Europe for economic assistance, Talabani added.
On Wednesday, Turkish media reported that private natural gas firms in Turkey confirmed reports of reaching a pricing dispute settlement with the Russian energy giant Gazprom.