Iraq Business News brings you the latest information on developments and opportunities in the oil and gas industry in Iraq.
The Minister for Natural Resources in the Kurdistan Regional Government, Ashti Hawrami, told Reuters that he expected talks in Baghdad on the formation of a new government to lead to an imminent breakthrough on the issue of oil exports from Kurdistan. “I am confident that the leadership between Kurdistan and Baghdad will address these issues […]
Production from Iraq's West Qurna 1 oil field should more than triple to 750,000 barrels a day in three years time, an oil official said on Sunday. The 8.6 billion barrel field, which is being developed by a consortium including ExxonMobil and Shell, currently produces 234,000 barrels per day, Madhi Swadi, the head of the […]
Reuters, citing "industry sources familiar with the matter", reports that U.S. oil major ExxonMobil and its partners have awarded a contract to oil services firm Schlumberger to drill 10 wells in Iraq's West Qurna 1 oilfield. The contract award was finalised a few days ago but a final contract is yet to be signed by […]
The Middle East Association will be leading its ninth trade mission to Iraqi Kurdistan in Spring 2011. This will be held from 27th Feb until 4th March, with the possibility of extending a stay to coincide with the Erbil Building Exhibition (3rd - 6th March). Kurdistan is an important emerging market, and the mission will […]
Iraq is prepared to stump up for the cost of building one of the four refineries planned if investors can’t be found, the Deputy Oil Minister, Ahmed al-Shamma, has said, according to a report from Bloomberg. The total value of the refinery-building program is variously stated as $9bn and $20bn, depending on the source. The […]
Bloomberg reports that Iraq plans to start work in the next three weeks on offshore oil facilities in the southern part of the country, where export capacity is due to more than double by mid-2012. Export capacity will rise to 4.5 million barrels a day by mid-2012 from the existing capacity of 1.8 million barrels […]
"A tanker truck that unloaded the oil it was carrying from Iraq in the special zone located in 'no-man's land' on the border between Iraq and Jordan caught fire due to an explosion, causing a fire that affected 19 other trucks," a Jordanian security official told AFP. Police report that two people were killed, between […]
Volumes down, but revenues up Revenue from Iraq’s crude oil exports rose to $4.53 billion in October, the highest level this year, the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) has revealed. The average price for exports in October was $77.10 per barrel, up from $73.07 in September and $71.43 in August. The country exported 46.2 million […]
According to a report from Chatham House, the 'oil question' in Iraq has traditionally been viewed almost exclusively through the prism of ethno-sectarianism. Disputes over the management and licensing of the hydrocarbon sector and over revenue distribution have been seen as a battle for power between Iraq's ethnic and sectarian communities, as if these were […]
Iraq's newly-appointed President, Jalal Talabani (pictured), is apparently using his full allowance of 15 days to formally appoint a new Prime Minister, thus allowing the haggling over the details to continue. And while Nouri al-Maliki remains the 'agreed' candidate, we should never under-estimate the Iraqi parliament's ability to throw us a last-minute surprise. If al-Maliki […]
Halliburton signed the one-year contract with Shell on Tuesday to develop the Majnoon oilfield, according to a media source from Shell. Hanadi al-Salman told Aswat al-Iraq news agency that, “according to the new deal, Halliburton will set up operation centers to dig 15 new wells,” he added. When the contract win was originally announced in […]
Iraq will soon ask for bids on projects to install and run 22 gas turbines that could boost its power generating capacity by 30 percent in the next few years, an official from the Ministry of Electricity said on Tuesday. Reuters reports that the ministry plans to ask companies to build plants in four provinces, […]
