Iraq Business News brings you the latest information on developments and opportunities in the oil and gas industry in Iraq.
In its interim results for the first half of 2011, oil services company Petrofac gave the following update on its operations at Shell's Majnoon oilfield: "In March 2011, we announced the award of our first contract in Iraq, a US$240 million engineering, procurement and construction management project with Shell. The Majnoon field in southern Iraq […]
Fars News Agency reports that a senior Iranian oil official has announced that the country has worked out an agreement with Iraq to develop joint oil fields along the countries' shared border. The Managing Director of the Iranian Central Oil Fields Company (ICOFC) Mehdi Fakour added, "We are waiting for the Iraqis to be prepared […]
The following article was published by Reidar Visser, an historian of Iraq educated at the University of Oxford and currently based at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. It is reproduced here with the author’s permission. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. […]
On Wednesday 17 August 2011 the Iraqi parliament began the first reading of a new version of oil law proposed by the oil and energy committee-OGC of the parliament itself. The timing and the procedure of the debate created confusion and prompted significant walkout of many parliamentarians members of influential political groups. The debate was […]
Due to the lack of investment in developing Iraq’s oil sector during the old regime, pipelines lack capacity and are corroded, ports need redeveloping, refineries need to be upgraded to increase supply, mines cleared, power supply is irregular and an increase in water supply is crucial. Iraq has the fourth largest oil reserves in the […]
Iraq earned more than $48 billion in revenue from crude oil exports in the first seven months of this year, Oil Minister Abdul Kareem al-Luaibi [Elaibi] has announced, according to Bloomberg. The country’s 2011 oil exports will exceed $80 billion and have already “helped the government ease the budget deficit and carry out several projects,” […]
Iraq's oil ministry said on Tuesday that it would unveil model contracts for oil and gas exploration blocks to pre-qualified international companies on 11th September, kicking off a process that will culminate with the award of contracts in January, according to a report from Platts. Iraq launched its first post-war exploration round in April, offering […]
Reuters reports on Wednesday that Iraq has awarded a $472 million contract for an oil export facility expansion and sub-sea pipeline to the Italian group Saipem, a subsidiary of oil group Eni. Saipem will build a single point mooring buoy (SPM) with an export capacity of 900,000 barrels per day and construct a 50-kilometre pipeline […]
Shares in DNO International closed up more than 11% on Wednesday after the company announced strong performance in the second quarter of 2011 with a working interest production of 48,582 barrels of oil per day (bopd), doubling of the reserves at the Tawke field and good financial performance. Sales recognized in the second quarter this […]
Baker Hughes will drill 23 new wells in Iraq’s largest oil field, West Qurna 2, after signing a contract with Russia’s second largest oil company, Lukoil. Baker Hughes will use five rigs using advanced technology to drill the wells to a depth exceeding 4,000 meters, the statement said. "Drilling will begin in the fourth quarter of […]
The risks of working in or supporting the upstream oil and gas industry in Iraq are widespread and significant. From security and logistics to government bureaucracy, there are barriers to business that executives at many companies with a role to play in developing Iraq's oil and gas sector feel could be insurmountable. William Wakeham, CEO […]
Al-Iraqiya television has reported that Iraq is threatening to take the case of Kuwait's Mubarak al-Kabir Port to the United Nations if the harbour violates its maritime rights. An Iraqi Technical Delegation, led by the government’s Advisor, Thamer al-Ghadban, reportedly arrived in Kuwait on Sunday for a 2-day official visit. Bloomberg reports that Prime Minister […]
