Bora Can Yıldız (EN): “Turkey should not miss the energy opportunity in Iraq”

It is said that being dependant on foreign countries to meet almost all its petroleum and natural gas needs, Turkey should not miss the energy opportunities in its neighbor Iraq.

It is said that being dependant on foreign countries to meet almost all its petroleum and natural gas needs, Turkey should not miss the energy opportunities in its neighbor Iraq. Bora Can Yıldız, the Board Member of Istanbul Young Entrepreneurs’ Association (ISGID) said: “There are 1 million oil wells in Texas, while there are only 2 thousand oil wells in Iraq. When the current energy reserves are processed, the energy and power balances will change not only in the Middle East, but also in the entire world. The estimated oil reserve is 143 billion barrels, and gas reserves are expected to be around 126 trillion cubic feet”, and thus drew attention to the energy amount in this country.

Bora Can Yıldız, who highlights that the Middle East and Iraq, in particular, are included in the important energy centers of the world, is also the Board Member of EID Construction running construction operations in Iraq and the Middle East. Stating that the number of the facilities to process the energy resources is more than enough in other countries within the region, he said: “However, it is not like that in Iraq. There are no facilities to reach natural resources in this area and process them. This country is expecting an investment worth 100 billions of dollars for the upcoming period.” Explaining that the investment opportunities in Iraq attract the attention of many countries and constitute the main topic on the agenda in many international conferences, Yıldız adds:

“For example, this matter was recently handled in the Iraq Energy Projects Conference held in Dubai by Middle East Business Intelligence (MEED). I participated in the conference as a key note speaker as well. This conference was observed by the government spokesmen, managers of the international energy companies, consulting companies as well as large scale construction companies running projects in the region. They shared their experiences and future plans in the same platform, and tried to find a common ground. The main topics of the conference were the oil reserves and the production projection for the next 20 years, its effect on the national and world economies, installation of the facilities required to produce and process gases, launch of the Iraq Strategic Pipeline and alternative pipelines. Another line to go through Turkey with a capacity of 2 million barrels a day is also included in such projects. In addition, there is also another one on the agenda: the Iraq-Jordan Strategic Pipeline to transfer oil from Aqaba Port to the Mediterranean. New lines to transfer southern oils to the Arabian Gulf are planned too. The investments in water to be used during the extraction of oil are another issue, which is worth billions of dollars as well.”

ISGID Member Yıldız who underlined the trade between Turkey and Iraq said the following words about other opportunities offered to Turkey by its close neighbor:

“As you know, Iraq is one of three countries to which Turkey exports the most. Additionally, the Turkish companies like our company have great contributions in the reconstruction process of Iraq. Moreover, Turkey has a strategic importance for the current and projected pipelines that are required for the transportation of the oil in Iraq from northern region to the world. Let’s talk about the short-term projections, not the long term ones; I think it would be proper to summarize the situation with some figures. There is approximately $ 200 billion worth investment for the petroleum and gas between 2013 – 2017; $ 100 billion of which is for the extraction of petroleum and gas, $ 40 billion of which is for the gas industry, $ 30 billion of which for the establishment of refinery and relevant facilities, and $ 30 billion of which is for the infrastructure of the export.”