Petrofac, the international oil & gas facilities service provider, has confirmed it has been awarded a contract in excess of US$240 million by Shell Iraq Petroleum Development B.V. for developments in the Majnoon Field, Southern Iraq.

Under the competitively tendered contract, Petrofac is providing engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction management services for the development of a new early production system comprising two trains each with capacity for 50,000 barrels of oil per day, along with upgrading of existing brownfield facilities. Work on the project began in mid-2010 and is expected to complete during the fourth quarter of 2012.

Ayman Asfari, Petrofac group chief executive, said:

“Majnoon is one of Iraq’s largest developments and we are delighted to be working with Shell to assist them with unlocking the field’s potential. Iraq’s geographic location, adjacent to many of our existing areas of operation, made it a natural market for the group as we continue to broaden our geographic footprint.“

Subramanian Sarma, managing director, Petrofac Engineering & Construction adds:

“Prior to beginning work with Shell in Iraq last year, we had spent many months preparing in order to achieve a sufficient level of readiness across several aspects of our business operations. All of our activities are underpinned by our strong commitment to safety, quality and integrity and alongside Shell and the local community, we are working to deliver this project to the standards our customers and stakeholders expect from us.“

DNO, the Norwegian oil company with operations in Iraqi Kurdistan, has announcee that the bond offering it announced on 9th March has been completed on 30th March, 2011. The bond issue was split between a USD tranche of approx. USD 140 million and a NOK tranche of approx. NOK 560 million, for a combined amount equivalent to approx. USD 240 million.

The new bond issue has a five year tenor and carries a floating interest rate of LIBOR/NIBOR + 7.50%. The purpose of the bond issue is to refinance the Company’s existing bond debt and for general corporate purposes.

DNO has in connection with the bond issue agreed to purchase the aggregate of USD 170.3 million and NOK 307.5 million of its various outstanding bond issues. The new bond issue will be listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange.

ABG Sundal Collier ASA, Fearnley Fonds ASA and Pareto Securities AS acted as joint lead managers for the bond issue.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a historic visit today became the first Turkish premier to visit the Kurdistan Region. Together with President Masoud Barzani, they officially opened Erbil International Airport (EIA) and Turkey’s Consulate in Erbil.

After welcoming Prime Minister Erdoğan and the rest of the distinguished guests, President Barzani said that he was very pleased that the Prime Minister joined him in launching the Erbil International Airport on this historic day. He said, “This [airport] is the first step to building a strong infrastructure in all of Iraq, and especially in the Kurdistan Region, and it is a key to many large scale projects to develop the Kurdistan Region and Iraq as a whole.”

Regarding Prime Minister Erdoğan’s visit, the President said, “We consider this to be a very historic moment. We believe that this visit will build a very solid bridge in bilateral relations between Iraq and Turkey and between the Kurdistan Region and Turkey especially.” The President commended Prime Minister Erdoğan for his courageous policies in Turkey and the wider region. Due to the Prime Minister’s wise decisions Turkey is playing a strategic role in the region, and the region wishes him success in the upcoming elections, he said.

Prime Minister Erdoğan said “We have historical and cultural bonds with Iraq, and with this beautiful region, now we’ll be connected by airways. But, I don’t want to call it airways, rather I want to call it ‘the way of the citizens,’ and through this way of the citizens we will be connected to each other and connected to the rest of the world.” He went on to say that Turkish Airlines would begin flights to the new airport on April 14th this year.

After the inauguration of the new airport, President Barzani joined the Turkish Prime Minister and his delegation at the opening ceremony for Turkey’s new Consulate General in Erbil. The leaders marked the event as another significant step in the mutually beneficial commercial and political relationship between the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the Republic of Turkey.

The local government in Ninewa signed a deal with a Turkish company on Wednesday to build a gas-fired electricity generating plant.

The plant will generate 750 Megawatts, a source from the Ninewa governor’s office told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

“The $388 million-deal aims to improve the electricity in the province,” he noted.

(Source: Aswat al-Iraq)

Iraq’s Mortgage Bank has decided to raise the personal credit, granted for any citizen planning to build a house, to 60 million Iraqi dinars [$53,000], the Bank’s Director-General, Hussein Ahmed Tu’ma, said on Wednesday.

He said that the minimum total area of each patch of land would be decreased to 90 square meters from 100 meters, adding that the Finance Ministry plans to increase the Mortgage Bank’s capital to 75 billion dinars, and eventually to 150 billion dinars next year.

(Source: Aswat al-Iraq)

As the international community moves forward with several rule of law initiatives in Iraq, the Rule of Law International Policy Committee (RIPC) held a meeting today at UNAMI Headquarters in Baghdad with the participation of representatives of 14 countries, the United Nations, the World Bank and EUJUST LEX Iraq, the European Union Integrated Rule of Law Mission for Iraq.

Ambassadors, top officials and international rule of law experts continued their monthly dialogue on human rights, good governance and the rule of law in Iraq. They shared information in view of coordinating their work in the field of human rights and Rule of Law in Iraq with the aim of promoting the protection of human rights and judicial and legal reform in the country.

The meeting provided for a review of the work of its three working groups dealing with trafficking in persons and juvenile justice, international judicial cooperation and rule of law and judiciary reform/legislation and parliamentary oversight.

The Committee meeting also included three presentations on the Iraq Rule of Law Strategy of RIPC partners and the activities of the US-supported National Center for State Courts and USAID-funded Iraq Access to Justice Program.

The RIPC serves as a monthly rule of law forum chaired by various missions. The Committee is made up of Australia, Denmark, European Union, Egypt, Italy, Japan, France, Germany, Korea, Turkey, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, United Nations and EUJUST LEX Iraq.

(Source: UNAMI)

Britain’s Energy Industries Council (EIC) is organising an oil and gas trade mission to Baghdad and Basra in Iraq in October.

Missioners will have the opportunity to attend organised group meetings with key local players, as well as incorporating briefing meetings presented by qualified speakers with in-market experience and the opportunity to meet with local companies.

Why Iraq?

As Iraq works to rebuild its economy and infrastructure after years of war and internal strife, the engagement of UK businesses will be an important factor in the success of those efforts. During the past several years, in the face of many political challenges, Iraq’s economy has made impressive strides. Iraq’s gross domestic product, which was $57 billion in 2007, has grown to more than $80 billion in 2011. In its 2010–2014 national development plan, the government has budgeted more than $186 billion for some 2,700 projects in different sectors.

Iraq holds one of the principal hydrocarbon reserves in the world. With proven reserves estimated at 143 billion barrels, the country’s undiscovered oil reserve is considered to have the second largest reserve in the world — possibly 300 billion barrels. Iraq also has reserves of gas of 3.2 trillion cubic metres, and is also rich in other minerals, including sulphur, phosphate and iron.

There are also many opportunities in the country’s power sector, as the government has targeted billions of dollars to restore and meet Iraq’s increasing need for power. Areas of opportunity include power plants, transmission and distribution, and renewable energy.

As Iraq moves forward with its new government, there are tremendous opportunities for UK companies to develop business.

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On Thursday 5th May, the UK’s Middle East Association (MEA) is holding a seminar with Mike Brennan, offering practical advice on how to do business in the Middle East.

Mike Brennan has over 40 years of regional experience, with an enviable track record of contracts in both the private and public sectors. He knows how business is done and offers the practical advice that can only be learnt by negotiating real contracts. He continues to advise clients in business throughout the region.

Business topics include: Trip Preparation, Documentation, Your Customer, Making Appointments, Getting your Message Across, Language, Building Relationships – Friendship or Trust, Getting the most from Meetings, Decision Making, Committees – Why They Exist & How to Deal with Them, Procurement Processes, Specifications, Pricing, Negotiating Techniques, Concluding the Deal, Contracts and Documentation, Getting Paid, Late Payments, Selection of Agents, Agency Laws, Corruption, Local Offices, Dispute Resolution, The Future, Agents and Sponsorship, Islamic Banking, the Role of Women and some Golden Rules.

Please click here to download more details.