Shafaq News- Erbil

Iraq’s Kurdistan Region (KRI) produces 37% of the country’s natural gas and could raise daily output from 1 billion to between 2 billion and 3 billion standard cubic feet, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Deputy Minister of Natural Resources Ahmed Mufti said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the Middle East Research Institute’s MERI Forum 2026 in Erbil, Mufti said the KRI could also supply gas to other parts of Iraq, but identified bureaucracy, routine procedures, and traditional staffing practices as major obstacles.

Mufti put Iraq’s combined energy production costs and fuel waste at about $10 billion, including roughly $6 billion spent on oil- and diesel-based production and another $4 billion he described as wasted through fuel burning at cement and steel plants. He also put natural gas’s share of the KRI’s electricity generation at 90% and said energy demand was higher there than elsewhere in Iraq.

Citing exploration projects covered by contracts signed between 2014 and 2021 that remain under development, Mufti called for protecting the Khor Mor and Khurmala fields and reducing reliance on Khor Mor alone, and urged stronger investment incentives and protection against drone attacks targeting economic projects.

On July 16, Dana Gas temporarily suspended operations at Khor Mor over security threats, while the Kurdistan Region’s Electricity Ministry reported a 2,500-megawatt drop in electricity generation.