Iraqi Kurds Search For Oil
Near Turkish Border.

Thursday, December 8, 2005
World Tribune

Baghdad, Iraq--The regional Kurdish government in northern Iraq is conducting a search for crude oil near the Turkish border.

The autonomous Kurdish government has contacted Norway's DNO to drill for oil.
The Tawke well is located east of Zakho near the Turkish border, Middle East Newsline reported.

The development could lead to an increase in tensions with Ankara, which fears the establishment of an independent Kurdish state based in part on an oil-driven economy.

DNO said Tawke-1 could contain high quality light-sweet crude. The company said it would require 60 days to reach a depth of about 3,000 meters, the estimated location of the oil.

"this project will contribute to the growth of the Kurdish economy and its reconstruction," Nigirvan Barzani, who represented his uncle, Iraqi Kurdish President Massoud Barzani, said.