- 29 Jun 2012
IRAQ’S EMERGING ROLE IN MEETING WORLD ENERGY DEMAND
ABSTRACT
The global demand for oil is expected to increase by another 20 mb/d in the coming 20 years. Iraq is uniquely positioned to provide significant portion of that incremental demand. To achieve this goal, 15 contracts have been signed with major IOCs to develop 12 oil fields and 3 gas fields to raise production capacity by about 10 mb/d, and the development of the fields is progressing according to plan. Iraq also intends to export dry gas and LNG.
About the Speakers
Dr. Hussain al-Shahristani spent more than a decade (1979-1991) as a political prisoner in the infamous Abu Ghraib prison under the regime of Saddam Hussein. First arrested for his opposition to the government’s persecution of political opponents and kept captive after his refusal to help the regime build an atomic weapon, he escaped during a bombing raid on Baghdad during the First Gulf War. Dr. al-Shahristani fled to Iran where he served as head of the Gulf War Victims Organisation from 1991-1995. He later continued his support for the victims of Saddam Hussein’s regime and the Gulf War as head of the Iraqi Political Prisoners Union (2003) and as Head of the Iraqi Refugees Aid Council (1998-2003). Dr. al-Shahristani was awarded the Freedom from Fear Medal by the Roosevelt Stichting and Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute in 2012. The medal recognises a lifelong commitment to democratic values in the face ofoverwhelming challenges. The International Energy Agency (IEA) also presented him with the medal at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Freedoms 2012 Ceremony in Middelburg, Netherlands, on 12 May 2012. Dr. al-Shahristani received his PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of Toronto in Canada. From 2006-2010, he was the Minister for Oil and is currently the Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs since 2010.
