Iraq is the gateway towards cooperating with Europe: Rasheedi

KUWAIT: Kuwait is getting closer to reaching a final agreement to purchase Iraqi gas in the next two months, Minister of Oil and Electricity and Water Bakheet Al-Rasheedi said. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony organized by the Embassy of Bangladesh to celebrate its national day, Rasheedi stressed that the final agreement will be based on a previous initial one already signed with Iraq.

Responding to questions about power outages, especially as summer is approaching, Rasheedi said that the Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) is ready for the summer with a surplus of power capacity. He also noted that the recent outages happened because of technical problems that can happen in any power grid worldwide. Responding to another question about linking Kuwait's power grid with that of Iraq, which already has related problems, Rasheedi said that Iraq would be the gateway towards cooperating with Europe, adding that GCC states are currently negotiating with Iraq to start linking GCC grids to Turkey and Europe. Ambassador of Bangladesh to Kuwait S M Abolkalam stressed that Kuwait-Bangladesh relations are historic and reminded that Kuwait was the first GCC state to acknowledge Bangladesh's independence.

Three contracts

In other news, Rasheedi yesterday signed three contracts to conduct annual maintenance operations at West and East Doha and Shuwaikh power plants. Informed sources said that the maintenance operations will include periodic maintenance of various machinery and distillation units, in addition to providing the needed spare parts to ensure high performance. The sources added that West Doha plant will cost KD 19,729,234 and the project is scheduled to be completed within 60 months. They added that the East Doha plant project will cost KD 15.5 million and is also expected to be completed within 60 months. The Shuwaikh plant project will cost KD 9,979,979 and will be completed in the same period.

New board

Separately, the Oil and Petrochemical Industries Workers Confederation's (OPIWC) Secretary General Rashed Ali Al-Marri stressed that the oil sector workers' syndicates strongly expressed themselves and their general assemblies by supporting a new board for the confederation. Marri expressed gratitude to OPIWC's general assembly members for their trust and support following the meeting held on March 27, 2018, when the general assembly approved the new board formation to include Mohammed Hamad Shafi Al-Hajri as chairman, Khaled Fahd Al-Enezi as vice chairman, Rashed Ali Al-Marri as secretary general, Faleh Abdullah Al-Fuwaisel Al-Hajri as assistant secretary general, Saud Hamad Al-Ajmi as treasurer, Abdullah Mashout Al-Ajmi as foreign affairs secretary, Abdullah Zakariya Al-Salem as domestic affairs secretary, Fahd Al-Mutawwa as the institute's board chairman, Yousif Al-Kandari as vice chairman and Adel Al-Fadhl, Hamad Al-Mutairi, Mubarak Al-Hajri, Ahmed Al-Ansari, Mae' Al-Enezi and Abdullah Al-Ajmi as board members.

By A Saleh and Meshaal Al-Enezi