Iraq's deputy oil minister, Ahmed al-Shamma, said that Iraq still hopes to award a contract for the development of the 4.4 billion barrel Nassiriya oil field and the construction of a dedicated 300,000 bpd export refinery as one package. Iraq excluded Nassiriya from its three previous bidding rounds for oil and gas licences. According to […]
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.
Sterling Energy Rises on Interim Management Statement
Shares in Sterling Energy rose 3.7% on Thursday following the publication of its interim management statement. In the statement, the company made the following commentary on its operations in Iraqi Kurdistan: The second, and final, sub-period of the exploration phase of the Sangaw North PSC commenced in November 2011 and has a duration of 2 […]
Iraq Could Have 214bn Barrels of Oil
Iraq could have total oil reserves to 214 billion barrels, according to the country’s Deputy Prime Minister with responsibility for energy. Hussain al- Shahristani (pictured) made the statement today at the Iraq Refinery conference in London. Current proven oil reserves were revised up to 143 billion barrels in October 2010, not including oil in the […]
Design of Kerbala Refinery Needs to be Changed
Iraq's deputy oil minister, Ahmed Shamma (pictured), told the Iraq Refinery conference in London on Tuesday that the FEED (front end engineering and design) of Iraq's 140,000 barrel a day Kerbala refinery will have to be changed to reduce the fuel oil output of the proposed plant, reports Dow Jones. The Kerbala plant, one of […]
Iraq says Exxon won't Move on Kurdish Oil Blocs
Exxon Mobil has told Baghdad it will not break ground on its oil blocs in Iraqi Kurdistan until the central government in Baghdad approves the contracts, Deputy Prime Minister for Energy, Hussain al-Shahristani, said said on Wednesday. Shahristani has indicated many times that such approval was unlikely to be granted. Baghdad has threatened to exclude Exxon […]
Heritage Oil Down Slightly on Results
Shares in Heritage Oil (LSE: HOIL) closed down 2% on Wednesday following the announcement of its results for the twelve months ended 31 December 2011: 2011 Operational Highlights Awarded new licences in Tanzania which Heritage believes could be geologically analogous to the Lake Albert Basin, providing the Company with a key advantage in assessing the […]
Dragon Oil Targets Iraq
Dubai-based Dragon Oil is considering expanding into Iraq. In its management statement on Monday, the company said that it was pre-qualified for Iraq’s fourth oil licensing round, which is currently scheduled to take place at the end of May. “We are looking at partnering opportunities ahead of this bidding round,” the company said in its […]
Iraq Develops East Baghdad Oilfield
Production at the East Baghdad oilfield has reached 10,000 barrels per day, according to Aswat al-Iraq. "The East Baghdad oilfield is the biggest in Iraq and Iraqi and Jordanian companies are drilling wells in it," Essam Jihad told the news agency. "The ministry has mapped out a plan to develop it and signed a contract […]
Iraq Extends Deadline for Crude Tanker Tender
The Iraqi Oil Tankers Company has extended the deadline for tenders for the purchase or construction of a crude oil tanker to Monday (April 23). The vessel should have a deadweight of at least 6,000 metric tons, and, bizarrely, the tender document states that the year of build should be 2011. According to Bloomberg, the […]
The Resource Curse: Will Ordinary Iraqis Ever See Their Oil Money?
Iraq is on the way to becoming one of the biggest oil exporters in the world. As a nation it earns billions. But many ordinary Iraqis live in poverty. Now calls for a direct cash payout to each citizen are getting louder, according to this article from NIQASH. Any opinions expressed are those of the […]
Afren Jumps on Kurdistan Oil Find
Shares in Afren jumped more than 10% in early trading, before falling back slightly, following the company's announcement that the high impact Simrit-2 exploration well, located on the Ain Sifni PSC in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, has discovered a significant oil accumulation based on the results of drilling, wireline logs and sidewall core sampling. […]
Iraq On Target for Record Oil Exports in April
Reuters reports that Iraq's oil exports from its southern ports have jumped by 190,000 barrels per day (bpd) in April, indicating that shipments are heading for another post-war record. Exports from the al-Basra oil terminal (ABOT), Khor al-Amaya, and the new single-point mooring (SPM) on the Gulf have averaged a combined 2.11 million bpd in […]


