Iraq Business News brings you the latest information on developments and opportunities in the oil and gas industry in Iraq.
By John Lee. Shares in Afren closed down 1.8 percent on Tuesday following the company's interim management statement. Afren gave the following update on its operations in Iraqi Kurdistan: Barda Rash Having commenced an extensive testing programme at the BR-1 well in July 2012 and establishing oil rates in excess of 6,000 bopd of 28° […]
By John Lee. Shell's Majnoon oilfield in Southern Iraq is expected to exceed 200,000 bpd in the third quarter of 2013, above the level of 170,000 bpd needed to start recovering costs, according to Reuters. Majnoon started a shutdown in June for maintenance and to bring new production facilities online. Under the Majnoon development plan […]
By John Lee. Genel Energy has announced that it will take an extra 49 percent of the Miran Block in Iraqi Kurdistan as repayment for a $294 million loan issued in August to Heritage Oil. The company previously acquired a 26 percent working interest in the Miran Block from Heritage on 23 August 2012, taking […]
By John Lee. Iraq's Oil Ministry has unveiled its five-year plan for the development of the country’s natural gas riches. Azzaman reports that the plan calls for production of five million cubic meters of gas by the end of the five-year period, with new exploratory blocks up for grabs. An oil ministry spokesman said that […]
By Abdul-Khaleq Dosky. This article was originally published by Niqash. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The tension between Iraqi Kurdistan and the leadership in Baghdad doesn’t seem to have diminished lately. NIQASH asked the Iraqi Kurdish why the Russians and Exxon […]
By John Lee. Iraq needs up to $1 trillion over the next 10 years to rebuild its crumbling infrastructure and battered economy, the head of the National Investment Commission (NIC), Sami al-Araji (pictured), said at the Baghdad International Fair. "We are talking about the reconstruction of Iraq, a minimum requirement of money ... is about […]
By John Lee. The Iraqi Government has reportedly told Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom, to abandon oil deals in Kurdistan or face losing the lucrative Badra oilfield contract. The field, which is estimated to have reserves of 100 million barrels, is being developed by Gazprom (30%), Korea’s KOGAS (22.5%), […]
By John Lee. Shares in Gulf Keystone closed up 5.5% on Thursday following the announcement that it has struck oil at the Sheikh Adi block in Iraqi Kurdistan. The notification of the discovery follows the completion of a well testing programme of the Sheikh Adi-2 exploration well on the block, located immediately to the west […]
By John Lee. Petrofac has won a further inspection, maintenance and repair contract for the Rumaila oil field in Southern Iraq with its joint venture partner, China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corporation (CPECC). The US$229 million contract was awarded by BP Iraq NV (BP), via the Rumaila Operating Organisation (ROO), following a competitive tender. The […]
By John Lee. In its third quarter results, Austria energy company OMV had the following comments on its operations in Iraqi Kurdistan: Clean EBIT increased by 28% to EUR 617 million, mainly due to higher sales volumes in Libya and favorable FX effects which more than offset the lower oil price and higher exploration expenses […]
By Padraig O'Hannelly. On the day Iraq announced that Exxon Mobil wants to abandon its business in southern Iraq in favour of potentially more profitable contracts in Iraqi Kurdistan, the Oil Ministry has cancelled a major exploration deal with Turkey's TPAO. The reasons were described as "non-technical", with the decision coming from the cabinet; the […]
By John Lee. The Iraqi cabinet has expelled Turkey's state-owned Turkiye Petrolleri AO (TPAO) from the consortium that was granted the rights to explore energy block 9, and has asked Kuwait Energy to take over the shareholding. Abdul Mahdi Al Ameedi, director of the oil ministry’s Petroleum Contracts and Licensing Directorate (PCLD), said: "For reasons […]
