Liquid gas bottles. Photo: SM
HEWLÊR-Erbil, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,— Erbil Gas Company Director Bakhtiar Abdulla said on Monday that it had received a small amount of propane gas to distribute to residents in Iraqi Kurdistan capital city of Erbil, two days after the supply was restricted, but warned that it did not have enough to meet demand.
“Erbil needs 40 tons of liquid gas every day to cover the necessity of the citizens,” he added.
The disruption has resulted in shortages and a price spike for residents in Duhok and Erbil governorates, with political figures in Erbil and Sulaimani trading accusations about the cause of the problem.
The problem arose when the KRG switched suppliers at the beginning of the year, adopting a new contracting process and choosing a new company to supply gas in Erbil and Duhok.
On Sunday, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) spokesperson Jutyar Adil and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) caucus in the Kurdistan Parliament alleged that “mafias” and “powerful figures” in Sulaimani and Garmian were preventing the distribution of gas by force.
“We will distribute the gas under the watch of the police and the authorities to solve the problem of the gas prices,” said Abdulla.
Senior Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) official Mahmoud Sangawi defended his party, whose power base in Sulaimani, against the allegations by launching his own accusation that the disruption was the result of corruption by people along the supply chain between the gas fields in Khor Mor and end users.
“Those cases are not related to Sangawi [and the PUK] whatsoever,” his office said in a statement.
“According to our information, what happened was that some people in the area prevented the operation because they were against corruption of a company that belongs to a certain party,” the statement added, implying that the KDP was part of the problem.
The company that previously held the contract distanced itself from any involvement in the current dispute.
Golden Jaguar Company representative Snur Jamal told NRT Digital Media that they had finished their work on December 31 and that any disruption was the responsibility of the new firm.
“Our contract ended and our equipment was transferred from the Khor Mor gas processing plant, so we do not have any gas to distribute to the Kurdistan Region,” Jamal added.
Propane is widely used in Iraqi Kurdistan Region for heating and cooking.
Iraqi Kurdistan is not unified region, it is divided politically and geographically between the KDP led by Massoud Barzani and PUK led by the Talabani’s clan.
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