Archive | Iraq Oil & Gas News

Iraq Business News brings you the latest information on developments and opportunities in the oil and gas industry in Iraq.

New Basra Heavy Crude Short-Changes IOCs

By John Lee. According to a report from the Financial Times, Iraq’s introduction of the new Basra Heavy crude oil grade is causing problems for the international oil companies (IOCs). Since its launch in June, IOCs such as Shell, BP, Total, Lukoil, Petronas and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)  have received their remuneration for development […]

Dragon Oil Updates on Block 9

By John Lee. In a statement to the markets this morning, Dragon Oil gave the following update on its operations at Block 9 in Iraq: "In 2014, the partners in Block 9 in Iraq (Dragon Oil 30%) announced the discovery of oil in two formations in the consortium's first exploration well, Faihaa-1. "Open and cased […]

GKP Shares Rise on New Payments

By John Lee. Shares in Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) were up more than 7 percent early on Thursday, as the company announced that it had received further payments for its oil shipments. In an operational update issued ahead of the company's Annual General Meeting today, the GKP said it continues to produce at stable rates […]

Midyear Review of Budget and Oil Revenues

By Ahmed Mousa Jiyad. Midyear Review of the State Budget and Oil Export Revenues The State budget for 2015 was based on an oil export volume of 3.3 million barrels per day (mbd) and a price of $56 a barrel. Accordingly, oil export revenues were estimated to finance 83% of budget revenues. Despite marked improvement […]

Baghdad/Erbil Oil Agreement of Brink of Collapse

By John Lee. The agreement between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Iraqi central government agreement on budget and oil exports looks set to collapse. Kurdish MP Ardalan Nouraddin told BasNews that a new agreement will be signed, adding, “the details are yet to be revealed.” Under the December agreement, the KRG was to […]

Ceyhan Tanker Cancellations Increase

By John Lee. Oil firms expecting to load Kirkuk crude at the Turkish port of Ceyhan have had to cancel tankers, as the Kurdistan Regional Government ramps up independent oil sales at the expense of sales through the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO). According to a report from Reuters, tanker cancellations included Eni’s Seanostrum, Socar’s […]

Dana Gas, KRG in Spat over Court Ruling

By John Lee. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has reacted angrily to a statement from Sharjah-based Dana Gas. Shares in the company jumped 13.7 percent on the Abu-Dhabi stock exchange on Sunday after the company won a ruling in the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) in its long-running dispute with the KRG in Iraq […]

KRG Slashes Oil Transfers to SOMO

By John Lee. The Kurdistan Region of Iraq has slashed its transfers of oil to the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO). According to the monthly report issued by the KRG's Ministry of Natural Resources, the region supplied SOMO in Ceyhan with 149,778 barrels per day (bpd) in June, a drop of almost two thirds from […]

GKP Directors Step Down, Shares Fall Further

By John Lee. Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) has announced that three of the company's Non-Executive Directors are to quit their positions. V Uthaya Kumar has resigned from the Board on 2 July 2015, while Dr. Joseph Stanislaw and Maria Darby-Walker have decided to not seek re-appointment and will retire from the Board on the day […]

Oil Export Data from KRG, June 2015

The Kurdistan Regional Government has published its Monthly Export Report for June 2015. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) exported 17,130,639 barrels of crude oil (an average of 571,021 barrels per day (bpd)) in the month of June through the Kurdistan pipeline network to the port of Ceyhan in Turkey. Of this amount, fields operated by […]

Iraq Oil Exports hit New Record

June oil exports from Iraq hit a record average of 3.187 million bpd, up from 3.145 million bpd in May. An average of 3.02 million bpd was exported from the Southern terminals (up from 2.69 million bpd in May), with exports via Ceyhan averaging just 164,700 bpd (down from 451,000 bpd in May). Southern exports were helped by the splitting of output […]