SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- More than 400 billion cubic feet of natural gas were produced in the Kurdish north of Iraq since operations began in 2008, two companies said.
Dana Gas and its partners at Crescent Petroleum marked five years of continuous operations in the semiautonomous Kurdish region.
The companies said they've produced more than 402 billion cubic feet of natural gas since work started in October 2008, which helped deliver 1,750 megawatts of electricity to the 4 million people in the Kurdish region. Most of the rest of the country still lacks a reliable source of electricity more than 10 years after the U.S.-led invasion.
Dana and Crescent said Tuesday they've invested more than $1 billion in the region through contacts with the Kurdistan Regional Government at the Khor Mor and Chemchemal blocks.
Disputes over national oil laws have cast a shadow over the Iraqi energy sector. The central government in Baghdad says working with the Kurdish government may be illegal.
"We are proud to be the largest investors in the Kurdistan region's oil and gas sector, and the highest petroleum producers since our first production five years ago," Majid Jafar, chief executive officer of Crescent Petroleum and managing director of the board of Dana Gas, said in a statement.
