Iraq Business News brings you the latest information on developments and opportunities in the oil and gas industry in Iraq.
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 […]
By John Lee. America's second-largest energy company, Chevron Corporation, may buy the rights to two oil exploration zones in Iraqi Kurdistan. According to a report from region from the Sunday Times in London, it would acquire the rights from Reliance Industries, India's largest private sector enterprise. The deal, which may be announced this week, is […]
By John Lee. Britain's Premier Oil is teaming up with Russia's Bashneft to develop Iraq's oil exploration block 12. In an update to the markets on Thursday, Premier said: "Subject to ongoing discussions with the authorities in Iraq, Premier has agreed to join Bashneft on Block 12, an 8,000 km2 block in the underexplored Salman […]
By John Lee. Iraq signed the gas exploration contract with Pakistan Petroleum Ltd. (PPL) on Sunday for gas Block 8, which lies in the Diyala and Wassit provinces in the East of the country. Meanwhile on Monday, a consortium led by Kuwait Energy signed the contract for oil Block 9, having bid fee of $6.24 […]
By John Lee. The Iraqi province of Dhi Qar (Thi Qar) may get it's own oil company, according to a report from AIN. The Deputy Prime Minister with responsibility for Energy Affairs, Hussein al-Shahristani (pictured), discussed the issue with the Deputy Chairman of Dhi-Qar Provincial Council, Hadi Mohan, at his office in Baghdad. Shahristani instructed to […]
By John Lee. Turkey has started importing the crude oil from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and will hold negotiations over direct sales to the natural gas. The Turkish Energy Minister said in a press conference on Friday that "Turkey has started importing five to ten trucks of crude oil per day from Kurdistan, and […]
By John Lee. Shell plans to start pumping gas from its gas joint venture in southern Iraq in the next three weeks according to Reuters. Initial production will be 60 million cubic feet per day, but Shell's Iraq boss Hans Nijkamp told Deputy Prime Minister Hussain al-Shahristani that output would be increased by a further […]
By John Lee. Baker Hughes has included Iraq in its international survey of rotary drilling rigs for the first time since 1990. The Baker Hughes Rig Counts are an important business barometer for the drilling industry and its suppliers. When drilling rigs are active they consume products and services produced by the oil service industry. […]
