OPEC oil producer Iraq is considering building a pipeline to ship gas to Europe as part of its multi-billion-dollar project involving the construction of a rail line to Turkey, an Iraqi rail official was reported on Wednesday as saying.

Several global companies have expressed interest in the rail and gasline projects as the designs for Phase 1 of the rail network have been completed, said Yunus Al-Kaabi, Director of the General Company for Rail in Iraq.

Kaabi, quoted by the official Iraqi News Agency, said both the rail and the pipeline could reach Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan besides Europe.

“Besides the rail project, there is a proposal to build a pipeline to transport Iraqi gas to the European market,” Kaabi said, adding that an Italian firm has prepared Phase 1 designs.

A recent report by the Iraqi Transport Ministry estimated the cost of the project to construct a 1,200-km rail and motorway from South Iraq to the Northern border with Turkey at nearly $17 billion.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

Subscribe to our Projects' PULSE newsletter that brings you trustworthy news, updates and insights on project activities, developments, and partnerships across sectors in the Middle East and Africa.