By John Lee. The Ministry of Industry and Minerals has announced an agreement with a Japanese Company to build a new plant for nitrogenous fertilizers in Basra province. A statement from the Ministry said: "The MoI represented by the Petrochemical Industries and Fertilizers Commission concluded a non-binding goodwill letter and Confidentiality Agreement with the Japanese […]
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.
Eurasia Drilling Announces Acquisition in Iraq
By John Lee. Eurasia Drilling (LSE: EDCL) has announced that it has acquired two onshore drilling rigs in Iraq, with a commitment to purchase a third. All three rigs are currently under contract or being tendered to international customers. To ensure uninterrupted operations, EDC intends to retain the existing management and operational staff and support […]
Iraq Blacklists Chevron for Kurdish Oil Deals
By John Lee. An Iraqi oil ministry statement on Tuesday said that Chevron, the second largest U.S. energy company, will be barred from contracts in central and southern Iraq as a result of buying stakes in two oil-exploration blocks in Iraqi Kurdistan. “Chevron is barred from any agreement or contract with the federal ministry of […]
Big Business, Black Markets, Bribery: Oil Smugglers in Kirkuk
By Shalaw Mohammed. 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. Oil smuggling is virtually a tradition in the oil-producing areas of Iraq. And local authorities are trying to prevent it. But, as this tale of oil […]
DNO to Get Payments for Tawke Production
By John Lee. DNO International, the Norwegian oil and gas company, announced today that it has reached agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to fully apply the fiscal terms and conditions of the existing Production Sharing Contract (PSC) covering the Tawke license moving forward, replacing temporary arrangements in place since start of operations. The […]
Sterling Energy Issues Half-Year Results
By John Lee. Sterling Energy has announced its results for the six month period ending 30 June 2012. (Picture: Surface oil seeping from the ground at Sterling Energy's Sangaw North block) Summary Cash as at 30 June 2012 of $114.4 million ($112.9 million net of partner funds), no debt. $7.1 million expected in July from […]
Gulf Keystone, MOL, Spud Gulak-1 Exploration Well
By John Lee. Gulf Keystone notes today's announcement by MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas Plc., the operator regarding the spudding of the Gulak-1 exploration well on the Akri-Bijeel block in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Gulak-1 is the fourth exploration well to be drilled on the Akri-Bijeel block and the first exploration well to target […]
Iran to Expand Operations at Joint Oilfields with 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 […]
Attack on Turkey-Iraq Oil Pipeline
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 […]
US court: Iraq Not Liable for End of Saddam-Era Oil Contracts
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 […]
Gulf Keystone Rallies on Shaikan Oil-in-Place Upgrade
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 […]
Afren Jumps 8% on Simrit-2 Oil Discovery
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 […]


