Iraq's Oil Ministry to resume operations at 4 oil fields in Nineveh
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq’s Oil Ministry is set to renovate and resume operations at oil fields in the Nineveh governorate after it deployed oil detection teams to the province.
The expert oil detection teams arrived in Nineveh in late 2019 with 100 vehicles of equipment, Nineveh governor Nahim Jaborui said in a statement.
“The team started their search on Jan. 22, 2020, after security forces and personnel were provided for them,” the governor added.
“A joint force of Iraqi police and Security Forces of Nineveh operations were tasked to ensure the safety of the team. The team is currently operating in Ain Jheshe, in western Mosul.”
The Iraqi Oil Ministry announced plans to develop four oil fields in Nineveh: Sassan, Alan, Qasab, and Juan in southern Mosul.
Nineveh is one of Iraq’s many oil-rich governorates. Following the Islamic State’s takeover of the area in 2014, the terror group used the oil fields as a source of income by selling oil on the black market. When Nineveh was liberated, Islamic State militants damaged and destroyed the major oil fields, hindering them unusable.
According to Badran Ghalin, an oil economic expert in Nineveh, the region “has a vast oil reserve…and will provide job opportunities for 1,300 individuals.”
Nineveh governor Jabouri has requested the North Oil Company to provide the budget to renovate and help repopulate the roads between Mosul, Gayara, and Zummar, which he said can be later paid off by the oil revenue.
There are several major oil fields in the Nineveh governorate, including Gayara, Ain Zalla, Batman, and Safia, which were used by the previous Iraqi regime.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany
