Tender for pipeline carrying northern Iraqi gas to Turkey to be held February 2016

ANKARA

A tender will be held for the construction of a pipeline carrying natural gas from the northern Iraq to Turkey, in the eastern province of Şırnak on Feb. 9, 2016, Turkey’s gas grid BOTAŞ announced on Dec. 28. 

The tender is scheduled to be held on 2 p.m. local time. 

The planned 185.1-km pipeline, measuring 40 inches in diameter, will start at the connection valve at the Serenti Pig Station at the 35th km of the Mardin Natural Gas Pipeline, according to BOTAŞ statement. 

Any local and foreign players can bid in the tender, through which the most economically advantageous offer will be chosen.  

The winner will undertake the pipe’s whole construction. The tender will be closed to consortiums, according to the statement. 

The bidders will give more than 3 percent of their proposed tender prices. 

The pipeline is planned to be completed in 720 calendar days. 

Turkey has been seeking ways to diversify its energy sources after a diplomatic crisis erupted with Russia, which provides more than half of Turkey’s gas needs. 

Meanwhile, General Energy, a major oil producer in the KRG, plans to establish a joint company with the KRG government to develop gas fields, its chairman Tony Hayward said at a conference in November. 

Pointing out that General Energy has two natural gas fields in the KRG, Miran and Bina Bawi, with gas reserves of about 300-400 bcm, Hayward said these fields would become fully operative by the end of 2016 and exports to Turkey were planned to start within the next two to three years. 

“We’ll start our gas projects before 2016 ends and we will have the opportunity to start the gas flow in two to three years. By increasing production to 10 bcm, we’ll realize the first phase of a deal with Turkey,” Hayward said, as quoted by Reuters.