Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs, Minister of Oil, Hayan Abdul Ghani, stressed the importance of developing Akkaz gas field in Anbar Governorate by adding a quantity of (400) cubic feet (million standard cubic feet per day) to national production, which aims to supply electric power generation stations with new quantities of natural gas. Abdel Ghani said, during his sponsorship of the contract signing ceremony between the Ministry, 'represented by the Central Oil Company, the North Oil Company, and the Department of Petroleum Contracts and Licensing' and the Ukrainian company UKRZEMRESURS, as well as his sponsorship of the contract for the assignment of the Korean Kukaz Company in favor of the Ukrainian company, that 'the national effort in the Central oil company was able earlier to operate the field within the accelerated plan to supply Akkas gas station at a rate of (60) mmqm. He pointed out: 'The Ministry aims, through the contract with the Ukrainian company, to reach a rate of (100) mqmq for th e first stage of (1-2) years, and (400) mqmq within (4) years.' For his part, the Undersecretary for Extraction Affairs, Bassem Muhammad Khudair, said, 'This contract was achieved after many years of waiting due to the war on terrorist gangs,' noting that a contract formula had been reached with the Ukrainian company to invest in this field with an initial production ranging from (one and a half to two years). It aims to raise the field's production rates to (100) mqmq and to (400 mqmq) within four years, through which it feeds the Anbar power station and Akkaz gas station.' In turn, the director of the Central Oil Company, Muhammad Yassin Hassan, said: 'Today we witnessed the concession of the Korean company Kukaz to the Ukrainian company to implement and invest in the Akkaz field project, which represents an important step towards gas investment, especially in the western region, because this region holds a large gas reserve, and we are working to invest it in an optimal way, to supply the national grid w ith new gas energy that contributes to supporting the energy sector in Iraq and enhances national production.'/End Source: National Iraqi News Agency