DAMMAM — The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp), a multilateral development bank, announced its’ attendance at Iraq Petroleum 2018.

The conference, now in its twelfth year, is one of the energy industry’s most prestigious events, bringing together Iraq’s oil and gas industry experts to enhance cooperation and integration within the international energy community – in an effort to support the country’s hydrocarbons sector and re-establish its position on the world energy map.

Apicorp’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Ahmed Ali Attiga, and APICORP’s Senior Economist Mustafa Ansari, will both address the conference which was held on Feb. 27-28 in Berlin, Germany.

This year’s conference is intended to join together Iraq’s senior Government Representatives alongside key industry stakeholders to drive the strategy for the year ahead in one of the world’s most important oil and gas markets. The Government of Iraq will highlight the new policies for creating favorable investment conditions for businesses to access joint projects with major growth potential in the country.

Dr. Ahmed Ali Attiga, Chief Executive Office of Apicorp, said: “With over 100 billion dollars being invested in Iraq over the next few years, we’re very excited to be a part of an event that promotes business in the country and propels its position as the next big oil and gas market.”

Iraq is a member country of Apicorp and discussions are underway to explore opportunities for Apicorp to support and finance key investments in the energy sector with public and private sector sponsors.

Dr Attiga further said: “Apicorp has a long-standing relationship with Iraq, and conducted several large-scale projects in the country prior to 1991. As Iraq emerges from its previous instabilities and seeks to rebuild its energy infrastructure, we truly believe that we’re at the dawn of a new era. We are delighted to rekindle our relationship with Iraq and support the country in its energy transformation.”

As Iraq has returned to a more stable footing, its government has made some progress with upgrading infrastructure and expanding export capacity. A significant portion of growth in recent years is also attributable to improvements in crude quality. However, more investments will be required in order to accommodate future output growth. Securing more natural gas and progressing with water projects will also be instrumental in the recovery and production of additional crude from southern Iraq.

Iraq is the second-largest crude oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) after Saudi Arabia. — SG