Crescent Petroleum and its partners also continue to advance the appraisal and development of both the Khor Mor and Chemchemal fields, increasing the long-term impact and underscoring its commitment to the region, with plans to deliver commercial gas sales by 2027 to industrial users in the region.
Since 2018, the company has delivered cumulative production in excess of 500 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) in gas and liquids to power plants, industries, and households.
Gas from the operations fuels more than 80% of electricity generation in the KRI, playing a catalytic role in building the region’s modern energy infrastructure. The project’s economic contribution extends well beyond capital investment and production activity. PwC estimates that the Kurdistan Gas Project has enabled approximately US$240 billion in cumulative KRI GDP since 2008 by delivering reliable, affordable electricity, underscoring its central role in economic growth and regional development.
Beyond the economic impact, the transition to natural gas has delivered significant fiscal and environmental benefits. By displacing higher-cost, higher-emission fuels, the project enabled an estimated US$38.3 billion in fuel cost savings for the KRG and avoided approximately 63 million tonnes of CO2e emissions.
The Kurdistan Gas Project has also generated substantial employment with local participation, a pillar of its success. It has supported approximately 38,000 temporary job years during the construction phases and sustained 47,000 operational job years cumulatively, through direct, indirect, and induced employment.
Two decades on, the Kurdistan Gas Project stands as a defining example of sustained investment, effective partnership, and long-term strategic vision, delivering enduring economic, fiscal, and environmental value to the KRI.
In April 2007, Crescent Petroleum and its affiliate, Dana Gas, entered into agreements with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of Iraq for the development of the substantial gas resources in the region. Under the terms of those agreements, the Kurdistan Regional Government, Crescent Petroleum and Dana Gas would jointly review the natural gas resources in the KRI with a view to the optimisation, development and subsequent utilisation of that substantial resource.
In addition, Crescent Petroleum and Dana Gas were appointed to develop, process, and transport natural gas from the Khor Mor Gas Field, and to also concurrently appraise the potential of the Chemchemal Gas Field, to provide natural gas supplies to fuel domestic electric power generation plants in Erbil and Chemchemal. Further development of the gas reserves are planned to supply natural gas as feedstock and energy for local industries and also for export.
In May 2009, Crescent Petroleum and Dana Gas entered into strategic partnership agreements with OMV and MOL for the joint development of the Khor Mor and Chemchemal Gas Fields. OMV, Austria’s largest listed industrial company, and MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas Company, Hungary’s largest listed company, are two of Europe’s most dynamic integrated oil and gas companies. OMV and MOL each acquired a 10% equity interest in Pearl Petroleum Company Limited, the company that holds Crescent Petroleum and Dana Gas’ interests in the KRI. Further, in 2015, RWE, a German multinational energy company headquartered in Essen and listed in Frankfurt, acquired a 10% equity in Pearl Petroleum Company Limited.
The first stage of the Khor Mor Field development, which included hooking up, testing, and re-commissioning of existing gas wells, acquiring 2D seismic, installing gas separation and treatment facilities, and installing 180 km of pipeline to transport gas to power plants in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, was completed in a record time of 15 months and first gas deliveries to Erbil commenced in October 2008. The pipeline passes near other gas fields and will have spare capacity to transport additional gas volumes at a later stage. The second stage involved the installation of a 2-train liquid petroleum gas (LPG) plant, which was completed in 2011.
Production capacity would continue to grow after a series of debottlenecking programmes and other improvements to the plant, bringing total capacity to approximately 500 MMscf/d by 2022.
In the ensuing two decades, the gas project has delivered uninterrupted, affordable energy at scale to the KRI, making a considerable impact on the region’s economy, society, and environment. Capital investment in the project’s infrastructure and day-to-day operations has sustained significant economic activity in the KRI.
In 2019, Crescent Petroleum and Dana Gas signed a 20-year Gas Sales Agreement with the KRG to enable production and sales of an additional 250 MMscf/d to significantly expand current production (“KM250 project”). The US$1.1 billion development was supported by financing from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), UAE-based bank facilities, and a US$350 million senior secured bond issued in 2024 and listed on the Nordic Alternative Bond Market, making it one of the largest private-sector infrastructure developments undertaken in Iraq in recent years.
Commissioned in October 2025, several months ahead of schedule, the KM250 plant increased production at Khor Mor from 500 MMscf/d to 750 MMscf/d, an increase of 50%. The expansion strengthens power generation across the KRI, supports industrial growth, underpins the KRG’s Runaki initiative to deliver 24-hour electricity, and improves energy supply to other regions of Iraq.