By John Lee.
The Ministry of Oil has signed an agreement in principle with HKN Energy to develop the Hamrin field in northern Iraq.
The agreement, signed on Tuesday between North Oil Company (NOC) and the US-based company aims to increase the field's output to 60,000 barrels per day, up from the current 20,000-25,000 bpd, and to capture and utilise 45-50 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of associated gas for power generation.
Oil Minister Hayan Abdul Ghani highlighted the government's commitment to working with reputable American and Western companies to develop Iraq's oil and gas assets and enhance energy output in support of the national economy. He noted the importance of investing in associated gas to help power electricity generation stations.
The agreement was signed in the presence of ministry officials, US Chargé d'Affaires Steven Fagin, and representatives from both companies. Fagin welcomed the partnership and expressed hope for more US business engagement in Iraq.
North Oil Company Director General Amer Khalil said the agreement lays the foundation for a future development contract covering all wells in the field and aims to train local staff and provide gas to electricity plants.
Matthew Zais, Vice President of HKN, said the company is proud to partner with the Ministry of Oil and aims to maximise the field's capacity while employing 80 percent Iraqi workers and contributing to local community development.
Earlier in the day, HKN reported an explosion at its Sarsang operations in Iraqi Kurdistan.
In May, HKN Energy and ONEX Group signed a binding term sheet with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to develop the Miran gas field through their new joint venture, Miran Energy. The KRG and Iraq's federal government have disagreed over the legitimacy of that contract.
(Source: Ministry of Oil)
I have circulated, on 15 July, an alerting intervention, in Arabic, on Hamrin oilfield, calling upon the Ministry of Oil-MoO and other related authorities to investigate the matter and take due legal action.1 My alerting intervention applies now to Balad oilfield, which is recently a subject of discussion between MoO and other American IOCs2
Briefly, both Hamrin and Balad oilfields were mentioned in an announcement posted on the Swedish Crown Energy website. The announcement says, “The Company entered into a sale and purchase agreement with an external buyer regarding the assets in Iraq in October 2021. The agreement stipulates payments of in total 180 million USD up until 2026. Crown Energy have received the first instalments and payments are made continuously. There is also an added opportunity to benefit from a further potential USD 270 million if the upside terms of the earnout agreement are met. The assets are thus still owned by Crown Energy but sold in a forward contract that will be finished in October 2026. The buyer is one of the leading energy companies in the world and the contract is currently subject to a non-disclosure agreement.” The announcement says further, “The exploration licence in Iraq covers an area of approximately 24,000 square kilometres located in northern Iraq, south-west of Kurdistan. The licence area contains several major discoveries, as well as vast unexplored areas with high hydrocarbon potential. The existing oil fields, including Ajeel, Hamrin, Tikrit, and Balad, potentially contain several billion barrels of oil. These existing discoveries and fields have historically belonged to Iraq’s central government.”3
What Crown Energy refers to as, “assets in Iraq” and “the Licence” are in fact illegal production sharing contract singed on 29 September 2011 by, unauthorised, two officials from SallahulDeen Governorate and two from the Swedish U-Kraft AB.
The Ministry of Oil informed SallahulDeen Governorate that the local governorates have no constitutional authority to conclude such contracts, and thus these are null and void. The Governor of SallahulDeen circulated MoO directives among the local departments and ordered compliance.
It seems U-Kraft AB ignored the MoO directives and its implications. U-Kraft AB name changed to “Tigris Oil” and the latter was sold to another Swedish company, Crown Energy AB. Its worth mentioning that Crown Energy AB was established on 13 April 2011 in Stockholm by Ulrik Jansson, who was the CEO of all three named companies at that time.4
The name of Ulrik Jansson do not appear on the list of shareowners or the board of directors or CEO of Crown Energy AB, as per March 31, 2025.5
Due to the urgency of the matter and as precautionary measure against any possible legal and contractual complexities I called upon the MoO and other related authorities to:
1- Release a very clear announcement reinstating the illegality of the PSC of 2011 referred above and circulate the announcement widely and internationally.
2- Consider initiating legal case against Crown Energy AB.
3- Blacklist the “leading energy company”, that purchased the “asset in Iraq” referred to above and ban it from doing any business in Iraq.
4- If HKN is that leading energy company, then the recently concluded agreement in principle should be terminated and HKN blacklisted.
Ahmed Mousa Jiyad,
Development Consultancy & Research,
Norway
18 July 2025
Endnotes
1- https://www.mushtarek.org/groups/679b938b7fd0bd55baff8b70/posts/post/6876c8c688ca92c125d91c4e and
http://www.tellskuf.com/index.php/mq/120653-57162.html
2- https://www.economy-news.net/content.php?id=57467
3- https://www.crownenergy.se/en/our-operations/energy/
4- https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/crown_energy_ab-stock
5- https://www.crownenergy.se/en/