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For over
a thousand years, we, the Kurds have been ruled, and
mostly oppressed by Arabs, Persians and Turks, in
particular where the Islamic faith is used as an
ideological tool.
The end of the First World War and collapse of the
Ottoman Empire brought hope and many expectations to
the Kurds. We sought the dawn of a new era, bringing
modernisation and independence to us and our
neighboring peoples. It however only resulted in the
Great Powers of the day partitioning Kurdistan.
These powers then began to negotiate and purchase
Kurdish oil from the new Arab, Turkish and Persian
states which they had created, almost from nothing,
causing huge injustice to the Kurds and culminating
in the instability and conflicts of today.
The revenues from this oil were later used by the
artificial new states to remove the West from the
Middle East, and to fuel further conflicts.
For over 80 years we the Kurds have protested to
major powers that most of these regimes are terror
states, which deny democracy to their people, use
religion as a tool, plunder everything in their path
and willfully kill any persons who thwart their
objective.
Our Kurdish culture and roots are close to Europe.
History proves that we, like the Greeks,
Phoenicians, Romans, Franks, Saxons and Britons are
of Indo-European source.
I can truthfully state that we Kurds prefer economic
cooperation with modern Europe, to fuse our
resources, manpower, intelligence and wealth, so
creating a stronger role for Europe in the Middle
East. Kurdistan’s geologically proven wealth not
only features oil and gas, but many other minerals
and water resources.
Kurdistan’s large and varied population has long
traditions of technical, intellectual and artistic
skill.
The political geography of the Middle East today is
unstable. It requires urgent changes, including a
Road Map for a new and stable, prosperous and
progressive Middle East. Greater Kurdistan must
exist, or there will never be stability.
These changes must enable the Greater Kurdistan to
exist, with the creation from Syria of a 400-kms
Free Zone stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to
the borders of current Iraq. The New Iraq must be
divided from the intersection of the Euphrates River
at Baghdad; Iran must give up Kurdish territory from
the Straits of Hormuz to the Caspian Sea.
Oil geologists know the extent of oil reserves in
this region, and their potential to solve the
increasingly short supply of oil in the world.
Kurdish Oil and Western partnership will provide
that supply security, within secure, just and stable
frontiers.
Sardar Pishdare
Kurdish oil & Homeland movement
8 Warren Close, Rosendale Road,
London SE21 8NB.
TEL: 0044 208 378 0928 FAX: 0044 208 378 1656
Mob: 0044 77325 49495
http://www.btinternet.com/~kurd.oil
Introduction
The world supply of oil and natural gas is not
sufficient for current growth of world energy
demand.
In combination with strong political tensions, war
and instability in the Middle East, this has led to
« high oil prices », and increasing natural gas
prices. These are described by some economic
analysts and commentators as posing a threat to the
world economy.
The situation concerning oil is the most difficult.
World supply, production capacity, proven reserves
and exploration effort for oil pose immediate and
serious problems for the world economy, because it
will be difficult to much increase supply, but the
situation regarding natural gas is broadly similar.
One major problem is that, since 1999, oil prices
have in fact increased roughly 400% from about 10 US
dollars-per-barrel (10 USD/bbl) to a range of about
45 – 55 USD/bbl without any incidence at all on
world demand for oil. Quite the reverse !
World oil demand is now growing at about 2.5% - 3%
each year.
In the 1990s, with much cheaper oil, world oil
demand growth was only about 1.4% each year.
This proves the central role of strong oil prices in
pushing economic growth, therefore reinforcing oil
demand growth, not weakening it. This situation will
continue unless oil prices go to very high levels,
of above 90 USD/bbl, which will cause strong
inflation and harm the world economy.
In turn, very high growth rate trends for world oil
demand increase the geopolitical and Great Power
rivalries in the Middle East, for control over
remaining world reserves and supply. As is well
known, regional instability in the Middle East is
now very high. Bold and long-lasting solutions must
be found and applied. First among these is the
acceptance that historic injustice has been done to
the Kurdish people, with rapid creation of a
peaceful, democratic Kurdish homeland in its
historical territories.
Creation of Greater Kurdistan will firstly stabilize
the geopolitical situation of the Middle East. It
will permit the rational and long-term development
and production of all regional resources, including
energy resources, both renewable and non-renewable.
Bringing stability to the Middle East will not be
possible without the creation of a Kurdish homeland.
The world oil problem and Kurdistan
An increasing number of books, studies, reports and
Internet sites describe the situation regarding
world oil reserves, exploration effort, annual
discovery trends, production capacity and demand.
All the advanced, urbanized, consumer societies
(such as USA, Japan, Europe, South Korea, Taiwan)
consume about 12 – 25 barrels of oil per head of
population, each year. Applying the same consumption
rate to China, India, Brazil, Pakistan and Turkey
would increase world oil demand by more than 55
Million barrels-per-day (55 Mbd). This is six times
the total production of Saudi Arabia, or seven times
the production of Russia, the two biggest oil
producers and exporters in the world.
While the current oil price of around 50 USD/bbl for
the light crudes is described as « very high », this
price is in fact too low to encourage serious energy
conservation and long-term effort to develop the
renewable supplies. Oil prices of about 60 or 70 USD/bbl
will most certainly draw serious attention to this
problem, and bring financial resources and
investment to renewable energy development.
This will be a very long-term project, over 30 years
or more, and will not harm world oil demand, or the
revenues obtained by oil exporter countries. This
will be sure because world oil demand will remain
very strong due to economic growth and development
in China, India, Brazil and other fast-growing
economies with very big populations. Even if these
countries only obtain a consumption rate for oil
equivalent to one-third or one-half the rate in rich
countries, world oil demand will still increase by
huge amounts in the coming 10 – 15 years.
The problem will be oil supply. This problem will
increase very fast and become a crisis unless action
is taken in the near-term.
As is well known, the Middle East and Central Asia
region holds at least 60% of the world’s remaining
oil reserves, and much of the world’s natural gas
reserves. Taking the case of Iraq, it is seen that
invasion, rather than counting on and supporting
local opposition to the regime of Saddam Hussein has
produced an unstable, warlike and dangerous
situation. This prevents investment and sure
development of oil and gas reserves, and increases
terror action, to the benefit of nobody.
Kurdistan is, and will always remain a historical
fact. It cannot be « swept off the map ». Aiding and
assisting the Kurdish people to exercise their
natural rights to a homeland in secure and
recognized frontiers will be an important first step
in bringing stability to the Middle East. Only with
this stability can the region’s fossil and renewable
energy reserves and resources be developed, to help
everybody.
Kurdish energy initiative
Once created, an independent Greater Kurdistan will
provide the geographical space in which to found the
basis of a Middle East regional electric power grid.
This will utilize previously flared gas, and develop
hydropower, wind and solar resources to run electric
power stations, able to supply countries outside the
region. This will first include southern and eastern
Europe and the Greater Maghreb.
With regional stability assured, and oil prices
maintained at a sufficiently high level, longer-term
and more costly investments can be made in the oil
sector. These will include effort to improve oil
field recovery rates, increase production of
heavy-grade crudes, develop gas-to-oil conversion,
and other important measures for improving world
supply of liquid hydrocarbons. This effort will be
vital to help world oil supply to remain at high
levels, to prevent catastrophic decreases in the
world supply, due to depletion of oil reserves in
other regions of the world. Expert estimates place
these depletion losses at more than 2 Mbd-per-year.
Greater Kurdistan will assure and ensure that major
energy investments are put to good use, on a
long-term basis, for the benefit of all. Conversely,
rejection of Kurdistan’s natural right to exist in
stable and recognized frontiers reflecting its
historical existence over 2000 years will make these
projects and proposals very difficult to carry out
and achieve.
Time is now short with regards to future oil
supplies for the world. Action has been delayed, and
the wrong methods have been used to attempt bringing
stability to the Middle East. Kurdish people and
their leaders recognize this, have drawn their
conclusions and make the observations, and proposals
that are briefly described in this document.
From 1991, Kurdish national activists were granted
UN authorization for the Kurdish oil project in
Iraqi Kurdistan. We carried out a feasibility study
for this, and continue to actively pursue this
project. We welcome supporters, investors and
partners towards this project. We can be contacted
through the details stated above.
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