Authorities of the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq plan to begin natural gas supplies to Turkey by the end of 2016, economic advisor for the regional government told Alsumaria TV. "The government of Iraqi Kurdistan plans to deliver natural gas to Turkey by late 2016. The region will annually export 10 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe via Turkey. By early 2020, the supplies may be increased to 20 billion cubic meters," Bewar Hansi was quoted as saying by Sputnik. According to Hansi, reserves in the region are currently estimated at nearly 45 billion cubic meters. However, the government maintains that the reserves could be as high as 5.7 trillion cubic meters. He also said the government plans to build a gas pipeline to Asia across Iran and establish three oil refineries to supply fuel to Kurdistan and across Iraq. After the former dictator Saddam was toppled, the Iraqi Kurdistan government took control of oilfields in the region. According to British Petroleum, the reserves may amount to 45 billion barrels, a third of the entire Iraqi reserves.
