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.

WesternZagros Provides Operational Update

WesternZagros Resources has provided an operational update for the drilling and testing operations at Mil Qasim-1 and Kurdamir-2, and the continued production from the Sarqala-1 extended well test. Mil Qasim-1 Exploration Well (Garmian Block) The Mil Qasim-1 well was cased to a depth of 2,129 metres and successfully drilled and wirelined logged to a final […]

DNO Completes Merger with RAK

DNO International ASA announced the completion on Tuesday of its merger with RAK Petroleum PCL´s MENA operating subsidiaries, and increased its share capital to NOK 255,819,813.75 (comprised of 1,023,279,255 shares of NOK 0.25 each). On Friday, an Oslo court threw out a request by Petrolia Invest AS for an injunction to halt the merger, and […]

Exxon's Six KRG Oil Blocks Named

Kurdish oil minister Ashti Hawrami (pictured) has confirmed the names of the six exploration blocks awarded by the Kurdistan Regional Government to ExxonMobil: Al Qush, northwest of Erbil city and formerly assigned to Komet Group but withdrawn for lack of development; Bashiqa, southeast of Al Qush town; Pirmam in Erbil; Betwata; Qura-Hanjeer, southwest of Chamchamal; […]

Gulf Keystone Updates on Kurdistan Operations

Gulf Keystone provided an update on Monday morning on its ongoing exploration and appraisal programme in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, which includes the Shaikan block, a major discovery with independently audited gross oil-in-place volumes of between 8 billion barrels to 13.4 billion barrels calculated on the P90 to P10 basis with a mean value […]

Rumours of Genel Energy Purchase in Chia Surkh

The Sunday Times reports that Genel Energy Plc will announce a deal this week to buy a 40 percent share in Longford Energy's Chia Surkh oil field in northern Iraq. According to the report, the deal would be worth $70 million, and Genel, run by the former CEO of BP, Tony Hayward, declined to comment. […]

SOMO Signs Deal to Buy 1.5m Tonnes of Fuel

Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) has signed a deal to buy nearly 1.5 million tonnes of gasoil and petrol for delivery over the first half of the year, according to Gulf News. Gasoil It is set to purchase two cargoes of 16,000 tonnes each of 0.1 per cent sulphur gasoil every month from Vitol […]

Najaf Refinery Output Up 30% in 2011

Najaf Refinery achieved a 30% rise in overall production in 2011 compared to a year earlier, the Director of the Najaf refinery said this week. Leith al-Gharrawi told AKnews that the refinery produced about 7.174 million barrels of petroleum, up from about 5 million barrels in 2010. The production of kerosene was also 30% higher […]

Iraq to Raise January Kirkuk Crude Exports by 3.5%

Bloomberg reports that Iraq will increase its exports of Kirkuk crude for January from the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan (pictured) by 3.5 percent from last month. The loading program obtained by comprises 18 cargoes totaling 13.88 million barrels, or 447,742 barrels a day, compared with 432,677 barrels a day for December. The cargo sizes […]

Sonoro Energy Shares Jump on Iraq Farmout

Shares in Sonoro Energy rose 11% on Thursday following its announcement that the company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Sonoro Energy Iraq B.V. (“Sonoro Iraq”), has entered into a Farmout Agreement with Geopetrol International Holding Inc. and its subsidiary, Geopetrol Iraq Corp. The Agreement provides for the assignment by Sonoro to Geopetrol of a thirty percent […]

Iraq Delays 4th Energy Auction

Reuters reports on Wednesday that Iraq has delayed its 4th energy bidding round by more than a month. Originally scheduled for 7-8 March, the auction for the 12 new gas and oil exploration blocks will now be held on 11-12 April. Abdul-Mahdy al-Ameedi, director of the oil ministry's contracts and licensing directorate, told Reuters: "We […]

New Gulf Oil Terminal to Open in February

Iraq plans to start shipping crude from the first of its three new offshore export terminals in the Gulf at the start of February, according to Reuters. The new single-point mooring (SPM), which will boost export capacity by 900,000 barrels per day, was due to start operation on 1st January, but testing of new pipelines has […]

Iraqi Oil Exports hit 2.145m bpd in December

Iraq's oil exports rose by 10,000 barrels per day in December, from 2.135 million bpd to 2.145 million bpd, according to a report from Platts. Citing data from the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), the agency also says that the country's oil production fell by 13,000 bpd in December, to 2.652 million bpd from 2.665 […]