Iraq Business News brings you the latest information on developments and opportunities in the oil and gas industry in Iraq.
By John Lee. LUKoil boss Vagit Alekperov (pictured) has reportedly threatened to cut investment in Iraq unless Baghdad offers more oil in return. The Iraqi government reimburses IOCs' costs in physical shipments of oil. LUKoil is a partner in the West Qurna-2 project, and in the development of Block 10. (Source: Reuters)
By John Lee. Ashti Hawrami (pictured), KRG energy minister, has said that Iraqi Kurdistan is expected to reach financial self-sufficiency from Baghdad within months, despite central government withholding the region’s 17 percent share of budget. Speaking to Rudaw, he outlined plans to increase oil production to 750,000 bpd by the end of this year. In a […]
By John Lee. Share in Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP), operator of the Shaikan field in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, gained 20 percent on Wednesday as the company announced that it has resumed production and truck loading operations at both its production facilities (PF-1 and -2), in line with the pre-payment of US$ 26 million […]
By John Lee. WesternZagros Resources has announced its operating and financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2014. WesternZagros achieved several key financial and operational milestones during 2014 and to date, including the commencement of light oil production and sales at an average rate of 5,000 barrels of oil per day […]
By John Lee. An un-named industry source has told BasNews that oil production in Kirkuk has risen to 400,000 bpd. He said that, to begin with, they were exporting only 150,000 bpd through the Kurdistan Region’s pipeline to Ceyhan Port in Turkey, but later increased this to 300,000 bpd, eventually reaching 400,000 bpd on Monday. […]
By John Lee. Iran’s PressTV said on Saturday that Iraq has started a new round of talks with Iran and Kuwait over the development of oil wells that are shared between the three countries. Oil Minister Dr. Adel Abdul Mahdi [Adel Abdel Mehdi] (pictured) said that this is consistent with Iraq’s policy of expanding its crude […]
By John Lee. India's oil imports from Iraq have seen a sharp increase in January, according to Platts, climbing 56 percent to 2.48 million mt. Eklavya Gupte, associate editor, Europe and Africa crude oil, at Platts said: “Indian refiners are importing Iraqi Basrah light crude oil to compensate for the drop in imports from Iran […]
By Patrick Schmidt. Once the price of oil rises again, the Iraqi government hopes to fix some of the financial issues attached to the lower oil prices. The Ministry of Oil hopes to create incentives for international oilfield operators to produce more oil even when prices are high. Other discussions include ways to cut costs […]
By John Lee. ShaMaran Petroleum reports updates to estimated reserves and contingent resources for the Atrush block as of December 31, 2014. The reserves and contingent resources estimates were provided by McDaniel & Associates Consultants Ltd. ("McDaniel"), the Company's independent qualified resources evaluator, and were prepared in accordance with standards set out in the Canadian […]
By John Lee. Iraq plans to reduce crude oil exports from its southern ports in April. Reuters cites trade sources as saying that 2.4 million bpd will be exported in April, down from 2.65 million bpd in March, to make exports "more manageable". (Source: Reuters)
Oryx Petroleum has announced an update on its 2015 capital expenditure plans and funding. Highlights: A 2015 capital expenditure forecast of $140 million a 60% reduction against the budget of $350 million set in November 2014 includes a 30% reduction in general and administrative costs Capital expenditures to be focused on production activities in the […]
By John Lee. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has completely rejected what it calls "the false and malicious allegations of misuse of funds made against the KRG and the Minister of Natural Resources" by an opposition MP in the Republic of South Korea and which were published by the Korea Times. Korean MP Chun Soon-ok […]
