In January of this year a delegation from Iraq, led by H. E. Dr Barham Saleh, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Iraq, and Iraq’s Deputy Oil Minister, Dr Ahmad al-Shammaa, attended a seminar in The Netherlands which was organised by the Iraqi Embassy in The Netherlands and the Netherlands Centre for Trade Development.

The purpose of the seminar was to promote trading links between the Iraqi and Dutch private sector and at the event Iraqi officials were able to meet with Dutch entrepreneurs with business interests in Iraq.

The Iraqi delegation met with Jeroen van der Veer, Shell’s Chief Executive, and paid a visit to Shell’s Technical Centre in Rijswijk. The delegation also met with Linda Cook, Executive Director for Shell Gas & Power, and Malcolm Brinded, Executive Director Exploration & Production.

During informal meetings, held over two days, Shell outlined its long history with Iraq and how the company has worked side by side with the Ministry of Oil and other Iraqi stakeholders on a large and varied portfolio of activities across the country.

Shell also explained how its expertise and technology could help to re-build Iraq’s oil and gas industry and cited, as one example, the way Shell is working with Iraq’s Ministry of Oil to develop a countrywide Gas Master Plan.

With some 600 million standard cubic feet of associated gas per day being flared in the south of the country, Shell is advising the Ministry of Oil on ways to utilise this gas for generating electricity or to provide power for fertiliser, cement or steel industries. Once these domestic needs have been met surplus gas could be used to develop an export industry.