Iraqi PM orders a study on using "Development Road" for oil, gas transportation
Shafaq News/ Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has ordered a feasibility study on using the "Development Road" that links the country with Turkiye for transporting oil and gas, his office announced on Thursday.
The directive was issued during a regular meeting of the High Committee for the Development Road Project.
The meeting was attended by the Minister of Transport, senior officials from the Ministries of Planning, Oil, Electricity, and Communications, and advisers to the Prime Minister.
The meeting, according to the statement, touched on the parallel projects along the transit corridor. This includes routes for optical fiber cables, oil and gas pipelines, and electricity and renewable energy transmission lines.
Al-Sudani instructed the Ministry of Oil to conduct a feasibility study on utilizing the Development Road for "transporting and exporting oil and gas according to an investment and production map".
He also directed relevant ministries to solicit new ideas and consult the High Committee before making any decisions.
Originally conceived in the 1980s, and then known as the "Dry Canal" corridor, the $17 billion Development Road project envisions the construction of approximately 1,200km of two-way rail tracks and a new motorway, stretching from al-Faw in Basrah to the Turkish border in the north. This route traverses Basrah, al-Diwaniyah, Najaf, Karbala, Baghdad, and Mosul, establishing a land corridor that connects Baghdad and Ankara.
Since taking office in October 2022, al-Sudani has been a vigorous champion of the Development Road, regarding it as a pivotal driver for Iraq’s economic progress, for bolstering the nation’s global market linkages, and for generating new sources of revenue and job creation. During the May 2023 Arab League summit in Jeddah and during visits by al-Sudani to the UAE and Turkiye, Iraqi officials lobbied for the project. That month, Baghdad hosted a conference to introduce the Development Road to transport ministers and officials from regional countries and seek their backing. Al-Sudani highlighted the project’s significance as a "pillar for a sustainable, non-oil economy, and a link that serves Iraq’s neighbors and the region."
