Kurds in Iraq searching for oil near Turkey border
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SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Thursday, December 8, 2005
BAGHDAD — The regional Kurdish government in northern Iraq is conducting a search for crude oil near the Turkish border.
The autonomous Kurdish government has contracted Norway's DNO to drill
for oil. The Tawke well is located east of Zakho near the Turkish border, Middle East Newsline reported.
The development could lead to an increase in tensions with Ankara, which fears the
establishment of an independent Kurdish state based in part on an oil-driven economy.
DNO said Tawke-1 could contain high quality light sweet crude. The
company said it would require 60 days to reach a depth of about 3,000
meters, the estimated location of the oil.
"This project will contribute to the growth of the Kurdish economy and
its reconstruction," Nigirvan Barzani, who represented his uncle, Kurdish
President Massoud Barzani, said. "The time when the Kurdish people will no
longer be oppressed and will profit from its own riches has finally
arrived."
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