Iraq Business News brings you the latest information on developments and opportunities in the oil and gas industry in Iraq.
By John Lee. Iran will double the number of drilling rigs at the joint Iranian-Iraqi Azadegan and Yadavaran oilfields, according to a report from Bernama. Quoting the managing director of the National Iranian Drilling Company (NIDC), Heidar Bahmani, Iran's Mehr News Agency said there are currently four drilling rigs in operation at the two oilfields […]
By John Lee. An explosion and fire shut two pipelines that transport oil from Kirkuk to the Turkish port of Ceyhan (pictured) on Friday night, and it was unclear when oil would resume flowing. Security sources blamed sabotage by Kurdish separatists for the explosion at 11 p.m. (2100 GMT) on Friday near the town of […]
By John Lee. Reuters reports that a California court has ruled Iraq not liable for the end of two oil-for-food contracts dating from the Saddam Hussein regime. In a divided ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in California said Iraq's current government deserves protection under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 because […]
By John Lee. Prior to today's AGM, Gulf Keystone Petroleum has announced another major upgrade of the gross oil-in-place volumes for the Shaikan field in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Shares in GKP were up 6% in early trading in London. The revised gross oil-in-place volumes for the Shaikan field, as calculated by Dynamic Global […]
By John Lee. Shares in Afren plc were up 8% on Thursday morning following the announcement that the Simrit-2 exploration well in the Kurdistan region of Iraq has been drilled to a depth of 3,800 metres and the total net oil pay has increased to 460 metres. In addition, a cumulative flow rate of 13,584 […]
By John Lee. Heritage Oil, an independent upstream exploration and production company, has announced the publication of an independent Competent Person's Report ("CPR") compiled by industry specialists RPS Energy Consultants Limited ("RPS"). Trading in the company's shares remain suspended pending an acquisition. On 29June 2012, Heritage announced the proposed acquisition of a major interest in […]
By John Lee. PetroChina and its partners Total and Petronas said on Wednesday that oil production has started at the Halfaya oil field in southern Iraq. Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul-Karim Elaibi [Luaibi] said the field will produce 100,000 barrels a day and reach 535,000 bpd in 2016. The consortium will be paid $1.40 for each […]
By John Lee. Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) has adjusted its official selling prices for its Basra Light and Kirkuk crude grades for August. In common with some other countries, Iraq’s oil is priced relative to regional benchmark prices: For shipments to US, contracts are priced are relative to the Argus Sour Crude Index […]
By John Lee. WesternZagros Resources has completed the remediation work at its Sarqala-1 producing oil well and is preparing to test the promising Shiranish reservoir in the Kurdamir-2 well. WesternZagros also continues to actively cooperate with the Kurdistan Regional Government ("KRG") in the effort to assign the third party participant interest ("TPPI") within the Garmian […]
By John Lee. Two oil executives in the Kurdistan Region have told Reuters that Chevron is purchasing 80 percent of the Sarta and Rovi blocks from India's Reliance Industries. Austria's OMV holds the other 20 percent interest in Sarta/Rovi. Chevron reportedly declined to comment on Wednesday, saying that it continued to be interested in pursuing […]
By John Lee. Iran's Oil Minister, Rostam Qasemi (pictured), says his country is expected to start exporting natural gas to Iraq by the end of the next Iranian year (to start March 21, 2013), reports the Iranian news agency PressTV. Last year, the oil ministers of Iran, Iraq and Syria agreed to construct a pipeline […]
By John Lee. The Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs, Hussein al-Shahristani, has reportedly urged the consortium developing the Gharraf oilfield in Maysan province to speed up progress on the project. He also offered to help "eliminate the obstacles facing the work of the company", which is a venture between the Japanese JAPEX and […]
