Iraq plans to ship 17 cargoes of Basrah Light crude oil from the Persian Gulf in the first half of February, according to a loading program obtained by Bloomberg.

This would be two cargoes more than in the second half of January.

A total of 28.06 million barrels, or 1.87 million barrels a day, will be loaded from Basrah Oil Terminal (pictured).

The program comprises:

• 12 shipments of 2 million barrels each;
• two shipments of 1 million barrels each;
• two shipments of 715,000-barrels each; and,
• one shipment of 630,000-barrels.

Basrah Light is a so-called medium sour crude, which yields less higher-value refined products than benchmark grades such as Brent.

Loading programs are schedules of crude shipments compiled by field operators to allow buyers and sellers to plan their supply and trading activities.

(Source: Bloomberg)

Iraq Business News is delighted to bring you the latest Iraq Market Tracker report from Dunia Frontier Consultants. The market tracker highlights the activities and market performance of a basket of publicly traded firms who derive a significant percentage of their revenues from operations in Iraq, but are traded on foreign exchanges: a proxy Iraq play as much as practicable. It also identifies and analyzes the primary political and security events that occur in country that have market-moving implications.

Click here to access the report.
 

Companies Mentioned:

ExxonMobil, Lukoil, Statoil, Total, Samsung

Action Calls:

• National Reconciliation Conference looks dead, Sadrists ask their price: Nothing likely to come of it, unless it is to be used to announce developments elsewhere.
• Exxon moving into KRG: Exxon has their contractual commitments, so expect this to continue.
• Total close to securing Kurdistan oil rights: Just as we predicted, another major moving towards Kurdistan.

Headlines:

• Increasing attacks along the trigger line: Triggered by increasing political uncertainty, something to watch.
• Samsung wins $1 billion WQ-2 contract: Shows that life goes on in southern Iraq.

Calendar:

• 31 Jan – Parliament to reconvene
• This week – Exxon reports, Basra single point mooring set enter service
• Next month – National Reconciliation Conference

Click here to access the report, or to add your email address to Dunia’s mailing list to receive the Iraq Market Tracker via email.

The Basra Investment Commission (BIC) has announced that it granted 30 investment licences in 2011 worth a total of 1.1 billion Iraqi dinars.

Head of the Commission, Khalaf al-Badran (pictured), said that many foreign countries submitted proposals to invest in the province, including companies from the United States, United Kingdom, China, South Korea, Turkey and the UAE.

The licenses including six trade centers, five industrial, four agricultural and four recreational projects.

Three housing projects and two power generation complexes were also granted, in addition to single projects in health, media, and garage.

The commission also held 4 workshops and 14 investment conferences, as well as receiving senior delegations and representatives of major investment companies.

(Sources: Aswat al-Iraq, BIC)

A delegation from the Iranian Farast Group visited the Basra Investment Commission (BIC) and met its chairman, Khalaf Al-Badran.

They discussed the possibility of obtaining investment opportunities in various sectors, including housing and electricity.

The representative of the group, Ridha Mudhahari, said that his group includes 78 foreign and local specialized companies and that they have executed projects in a variety of countries.

Al-Badran explained to the delegation the duties of BIC and the facilities it provides to the investor, and said that there were many investment opportunities in the housing sector ready for investment.

(Source: Basra Investment Commission)

Reuters reports that Iraq has signed a $235-million electricity deal with a subsidiary of Turkey’s Enka Insaat to install a 500-megawatt power plant in the Al-Najibiya district of Basra.

The company will install four General Electric (GE) gas units, each with a capacity of 125 megawatts, within the next 16 months, said electricity minister Karim Aftan.

The green-field project will by financed by the local government of Basra.

(Source: Reuters)

Reuters reports that a Japanese consortium is planning to build and operate a $2 billion fertilizer plant in Basra.

Citing an article from Japanese business daily The Nikkei, they say the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will provide up to 150 million yen ($2 million) to Mitsui, Toyo Engineering Corp and Tokyo-based consulting firm Unico International Corp for feasibility studies. A local state-run company will also be involved.

The project will mark Japan’s first-ever public-private partnership for infrastructure development in Iraq.

The plant would produce ammonia and urea from natural gas. Daily output capacity at the plant would be 2,000 to 3,000 tons of ammonia, putting the plant among the largest in the world.

(Source: Reuters)

International learning and skills specialist Atlas has expanded the global footprint of facilities capable of delivering the groundbreaking new global training initiative IMIST for the oil and gas industry with the approval of the first centre in Iraq.

The accreditation of the Al Delma facility in Basra City demonstrates Iraq’s commitment to developing its energy industry and creating a workforce trained to the globally recognised basic safety standard, IMIST online.

It brings the total number of invigilation centre’s approved to deliver International Minimum Industry Safety Training (IMIST) around the world to 16, with facilities spanning Australia, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines as well as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Nigeria and Russia among others.

The Al Delma centre will be capable of delivering the programme to up to 250 people every day.

Bilal Mahmood, CEO of Al Delma said:

“Long-term underinvestment in the development of our oil and gas personnel has meant considerable training is needed if we are to accomplish the goal of a safe and skilled workforce for the future.

“As one of the biggest training centres in Iraq we have built our reputation on being quick, smart and reliable and we are delighted to be the first to gain approval to deliver this new international training and be a model to others in the country.”

Developed by global oil and gas training standards body OPITO International, IMIST brings for the first time a standardised level of basic safety training to an estimated 1.5million oil and gas workers worldwide. The training assesses basic safety knowledge in nine subject areas including risk assessment, asset integrity, the use of hazardous substances, working at height and mechanical lifting among other subjects.

IMIST online, which was launched in the Middle East in July 2011, is delivered in partnership with Atlas via approved invigilation centres only.

By gaining Atlas approval to deliver the course, workers using the Al Delma centre will have their IMIST training accepted by employers all over the world. It will also reduce the burden of training costs for companies with both new entrants and experienced workers able to undergo a full range of mandatory and voluntary health and safety courses under one roof.

Atlas chief executive John Rowley said:

“This is a significant step forward for the oil and gas workforce in Iraq in terms of creating a safe, sustainable and profitable oil and gas industry for the country.

“It is also a major milestone in the adoption of a common industry standard for basic safety and competency in oil and gas around the world. The support which has been shown for this initiative is evident in the rapidly increasing footprint of centres which now spans across all four corners of the globe and is testament to the industry’s desire to improve safety at all levels.”

IMIST is being rolled out across 30 countries worldwide throughout Asia, Africa and the North America over the next two years. It will be delivered via e-learning and tailored to meet each region’s specific workforce, language and geographic needs.

Iraq plans to start shipping crude from the first of its three new offshore export terminals in the Gulf at the start of February, according to Reuters.

The new single-point mooring (SPM), which will boost export capacity by 900,000 barrels per day, was due to start operation on 1st January, but testing of new pipelines has not been completed.

Consultation between the oil ministry, the South Oil Company and project manager Foster Wheeler last week produced the new schedule, officials said.

The other two moorings will be installed by the end of the year.

Iraq’s $1.3 billion export expansion project in the Gulf includes the construction of two undersea pipelines and one onshore pipeline, as well as four single-point moorings for loading tankers.

Bringing the first three SPMs on line would boost Iraq’s export capacity in the Gulf by 2.7 million bpd, more than doubling Basra’s current capacity. Its two current Gulf terminals can handle around 1.7 million bpd.

Iraq also has plans in place to build a third Gulf pipeline and a fourth SPM, while a fifth SPM is on its wish list.

(Source: Reuters)