Iraq to Emerge In Near Future as Major Oil Producer:The Role of Kurdistan in the Renaissance of Iraq

Dec. 13, 2011 - PRLog -- London (13 December 2011): Kurdistan Iraq Oil & Gas Conference was organised by CWC Group and opened by H.E. Dr Barham Salih, Prime Minister of KRG-Iraq. The conference took place on 13-15 November at the Saad Palace Conference Centre in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan. The event gathered over 600 delegates including senior industry executives and government representatives from the KRG and the Federal Iraqi Parliament.

The conference was the first event of its kind and it showcased Iraq and the Kurdistan region as the last frontier for oil exploration and emphasized how Iraq needs to maximize revenues in the shortest possible time to overcome the legacies of recent decades.

More than 27 distinguished Ambassadors and senior diplomats represented their countries at the conference. The Turkish Ministry of Energy was represented by the Senior Energy Deputy Minister who spoke about Turkey's position in the energy world. Turkey's Genel Enerji was among the first oil companies to enter Kurdistan.
The former BP chief executive and now CEO of Vallares, Tony Hayward, spoke of Kurdistan as one of the last great frontiers and highlighted the region’s resource potential.

Kurdistan Iraq Oil & Gas Conference, described by Britain's Minister of Energy Charles Hendry as “an invaluable opportunity for the many UK businesses” was sponsored by Gulfkeystone, Dana Gas, Genel Enerji, DNO, Marathon Oil, Repsol, Kar Group, Oil and Gas Management Services, Iraq Oil UB Holding, Addax Petroleum, Afren, OMV, Oilserv, MOL, General Exploration Partners, Hess, Talisman Energy, Western Zagros, KS Drilling, VIKING, Range Energy Resources, Garda World, Mubadala and hundreds of other companies.

Charles Hendry also announced that “As the country with greatest potential for increasing conventional oil production in the medium term, the trajectory of Iraq’s future oil and gas production is of considerable importance to global energy markets and security.”

H.E. Barham Salih, Prime Minister of Kurdistan KRG – Iraq also referred to the event in his speech: “Holding such a conference in Kurdistan was beyond anybody's dream, it was unimaginable to say, the least” and thanked CWC Group for working to organize this conference.

The conference ended with the last session led by H.E. Dr Ashti Hawrami, Minister of Natural Resources, KRG-Iraq and Michael Howard, Minister’s Communications Advisor who highlighted the positive message that the conference reflected to the Investors, and announced that CWC will be organising the 2nd Kurdistan Iraq oil and gas conference next year in November.

# # #

The CWC Group works with over 30 governments, OPEC, the World Bank and numerous non-profit making associations providing public relations events and publications to promote private-public co-operation.