The venture, Inci Gaz, initially plans to obtain 3.5 billion cubic meters of gas annually in Iraq from 2011, increasing that volume gradually to more than 10 billion cubic meters.

“The Inci Gaz companies plan to make the necessary infrastructure investments to transport and supply the natural gas to the Turkish market and potential foreign consumers,” the statement said.

The statement did not disclose financial details of the venture.

Crescent Petroleum said last month that it and its affiliate Dana Gas would begin supplying natural gas in Iraq’s Kurdish region in August.

That $650-million project will initially supply 150 million cubic feet per day (cfd) to northern Iraqi power plants, raising the level to 300 million cfd in early 2009.

Dana and Crescent signed the deal to redevelop the Khor Mor field in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region to supply gas to power plants in April 2007. The field was shut after the Gulf War in 1991.

Dana and Crescent also signed up last year to evaluate the region’s gas reserves and to build a large gas-fed industrial complex called Kurdistan Gas City. (Reuters)