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Dana Gas, Crescent Petroleum Reject Kurd Accusations Over Iraq Gas Supply

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Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum have rejected accusations by the Kurdistan Regional Government that they failed to inform it of plans to supply gas from its territory to Iraq, saying they had informed the KRG months in advance of the offtake.

The two companies, joint operators of gas assets in Kurdistan on behalf of Pearl Petroleum Consortium, said they had acted in accordance with their contract over the supply of gas to the Federal Ministry of Electricity in Kirkuk, Iraq and provided the KRG with a copy of the sales deal in January.

The companies say the KRG was also informed and updated on discussions and preparations for the future supply over several years.

The gas supply deal was concluded in compliance with marketing rights which the companies have had upheld in several international legal proceedings, they said.

"Pearl therefore rejects any allegation of breach of its contractual obligations, which it has always respected. The company continues to meet in full its gas supply obligations to the KRG, notwithstanding the KRG's breach of its own contractual payment obligations, for which it has been materially in arrears for over 3 years," the statement said.

It did not offer further details on the alleged arrears.

The companies said the 100 million standard cubic feet per day supply of gas to Kirkuk is to be taken from excess capacity at the Khor Mor field and is in addition to 655 million scf/d provided to the KRG for power generation, which covers its needs.

The statement said that Pearl has invested more than $4 billion since 2008 and is the largest energy investor in Kurdistan.

has reached out to the KRG to seek a response to the companies' statement.

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