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By Ahmed Mousa Jiyad.

Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

Many of my Kurdish colleagues, members of the Finance and Oil Committees in the Iraqi federal Parliament, asked for my opinion on these deals. In response to that request and due to the importance of the deals and their potential impacts on the Iraqi national interest, I prepared this contribution.

Kurdistan-Iraq Regional Government (KRG) and the Russian oil company Rosneft signed a series of agreements on oil matters, on crude oil supplies with upfront payment in addition to an "open memorandum"; that was done during the period between February and June of this year.

As usual, the main contents and components of those agreements, the financial and economic conditions and their governing modalities have not been disclosed. While these agreements have attracted the attention and opposition of some Kurdish political blocs and members of the Iraqi parliament, the federal government and the federal Ministry of Oil both kept silent as if the matter does not concern them!

In spite of the lack of information and the confidentiality surrounding the details, what is available indicates, obviously, to their economic and financial importance for KRG; to the geopolitical considerations of the Russian government; to the profitability and the external strategic positioning considerations of Rosneft; and, finally, to the important implications and impacts of all that on Iraq and the federal government.

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Mr Jiyad is an independent development consultant, scholar and Associate with the former Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES), London. He was formerly a senior economist with the Iraq National Oil Company and Iraq’s Ministry of Oil, Chief Expert for the Council of Ministers, Director at the Ministry of Trade, and International Specialist with UN organizations in Uganda, Sudan and Jordan. He is now based in Norway (Email: mou-jiya(at)online.no, Skype ID: Ahmed Mousa Jiyad). Read more of Mr Jiyad’s biography here.

Russia's Rosneft and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), as part of the XXI St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, signed a series of agreements on widening their cooperation in exploration and production of hydrocarbons, commerce and logistics.

The documents were signed ahead of the meeting between the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and the Prime Minister of Iraqi Kurdistan Nechirvan Barzani by Igor Sechin, Rosneft Chief Executive Officer, and Dr. Ashti Hawrami, Minister of Natural Resource.

The Parties signed an investment agreement under which they committed to develop cooperation in exploration and production, agreed on monetization of the export oil pipeline in Iraqi Kurdistan, as well as entered into a number of production sharing agreements.

The agreement outlines the main terms of the project which provides for the establishment of a joint venture for implementation of the long-term contract related to infrastructure systems in Iraqi Kurdistan. Rosneft will get access to the major regional transportation system with the throughput capacity of 700 thousand bbl per day, which is planned to be expanded up to 1 mln bbl per day by the end of 2017.

Also, the Parties committed to enter into effect of the PSAs signed as part of the Forum with respect to five blocks with substantial geological potential and outlines other perspective areas of cooperation in exploration and production, including the gas sphere.

By Mustafa Saadoun for Al Monitor. Any views expressed here are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. 

As the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) continue their operations in the western areas of Mosul, some PMU factions reached the Syrian border May 29 and were met by Syrian army divisions on the other side of the border.

According to the May 29 statements of Hadi al-Ameri, secretary-general of the PMU-affiliated Badr Organization, PMU forces are stationed in the Um Jaris village on the Iraqi-Syrian border, northwest of the Ninevah governorate.

The forces announced that they intend to continue to control the Iraqi-Syrian border toward al-Qaim district, north of the Anbar governorate, stretching over 300 kilometers (186 miles).

International coalition aircraft had previously bombed a convoy of the Syrian army and armed loyalists near the border triangle between Iraq, Syria and Jordan, according to Abu Alaa al-Walai, secretary-general of the Martyrs of Sayyid Battalions, affiliated with the PMU. “The US aircraft bombed Friday night, May 19, PMU forces in the area of Abu Kamal, near the Iraqi-Syrian border,” Walai said.

As the Syrian government headed by Bashar al-Assad prepares to exert influence over the Iraqi-Syrian border with the help of its allies in Iraq and Iran, the opposition armed groups seek to do the same with the support of the international coalition. The border area between Iraq and Syria will turn into a conflict zone between the allies of Tehran and those of Washington.

Ahmad al-Asadi, a PMU spokesman, told Al-Monitor, “The PMU forces will mobilize to secure the Iraqi-Syrian border and then shut it down to prevent the infiltration of terrorist groups.”

By John Lee.

KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and his accompanying delegation have met with the head of Gazprom Neft, Alexander Dukov, in St Petersburg. 

Dukov briefed the Prime Minister about the company's work and activites of the region, while Barzani thanked him for his support for the region in difficult times.

(Source: KRG)

By Shelly Kittleson for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

Although Islamic State (IS) fighters in western Mosul are cornered within a steadily shrinking area that is expected to be retaken soon, analysts warn that the fight against the group in the country is far from over.

Hisham al-Hashimi, one of Iraq’s most widely respected security and terrorism experts, told Al-Monitor that the transnational terrorist group “has not yet fought at its maximum strength” and has left only a “hindering” force in Mosul, which was previously known as the group’s capital in Iraq.

He claims that many IS members are unknown by name to Iraqi intelligence and that documents found in recaptured areas of Mosul show that IS’ “hidden” men are referred to in their own records using only numbers and no names, making it likely that many have simply melted into the population and will not be flagged during screening procedures.

Moreover, in commenting on an Iraqi military announcement in mid-April that IS currently held less than 7% of the country — down from an estimated 40% in 2014 — Hashimi scoffed, noting that “this is only counting the populated areas. They actually still hold 18% of it.”

“This is important,” he stressed, since “they still hold Hawija, as well as Tal Afar, Al-Baaj,” and the cities of Rawa, Anah and Qaim in the western Anbar province.

“We don’t have enough forces to fight in Hawija. Until we recapture all of Mosul and Tal Afar, we can’t go back to Hawija,” he said, adding that “Hawija is a difficult area due to its agricultural characteristics and the fact that it is a stronghold for militants. Fighters who have fled from the Diyala, Salahuddin and Kirkuk provinces are there.”

By Mustafa Saadoun for Al Monitor. Any views expressed here are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. 

Iraq is trying to revive the Trebil border crossing between Iraq and Jordan, which was closed in 2014 after the Islamic State (IS) took control of Anbar province.

But the highway from Baghdad toward the crossing is not safe and has been the stage of terrorist attacks for a while, most recently the IS attack on an Iraqi security forces’ convoy April 22 in the Al-Sakkar area east of Rutba on the highway near the Jordanian border.

As a result, 10 security officers were killed and 20 others were injured. Following the incident, soldiers of the Eighth Brigade deployed in Rutba appealed to Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi for equipment and weapons to secure the international highway between Ramadi and Rutba to avoid surprise attacks by IS sleeper cells.

Due to the imminent threats to the road, which is one of Iraq’s vital economic lines as it connects Basra in the south to Jordan in the west, Iraq commissioned an American company to secure and rebuild the road. The contract also included reconstructing bridges, 36 of which are destroyed.

A government source close to Abadi told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “In his recent visit to Baghdad, Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s adviser and son-in-law, discussed with Iraqi officials the issue of securing the Baghdad-Terbil and the Safwan-Terbil crossings.”

By John Lee.

Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) and Russia's Litasco — Lukoil‘s international marketing and trading arm — have set up a joint oil trading company in Dubai.

A source told Reuters that the new venture, LIMA Energy, is building a team to work at the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) to trade in crude oil from Iraq, Russian and other countries, and will lift the first cargo of Iraqi crude this month.

It is understood that up to 10 SOMO members of staff, including its head of shipping, could be seconded to the new company.

Last month, Iraq's Ministry of Oil confirmed that SOMO had formed a joint venture with Litasco to market crude oil.

(Source: Reuters)

Russia's LUKOIL has reported that it has completed a field 3D seismic survey at West Qurna-2 field.

The survey covered an area of about 450 square kilometers. The Company has fulfilled all of its contractual obligations to the Ministry of Oil of Iraq.

The high-quality seismic data obtained are required for the updating of the field’s geological model, both for the discovered formations and prospective horizons. The field data will soon be submitted for processing to a contractor, BGP, a division of the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

3D seismic acquisition at West Qurna-2 began in 2010. However, the completion of the field stage of work was delayed because foreign contractors did not have any work experience in the region. In 2014, following long negotiations, the Iraqi Oil Exploration Company (a division of the Ministry of Oil of Iraq) was chosen as seismic acquisition contractor.

In spite of high security requirements in the area of work, the contractor managed to accomplish all goals of the survey. Every day, about 1,000 people, including up to 700 workers from local tribes residing in the contract area, were involved in the operations at their height.

(Source: Lukoil)

Trump Orders Missile Attack in Retaliation for Syrian Chemical Strikes

The United States fired Tomahawk missiles into Syria today in retaliation for the regime of Bashar Assad using nerve agents to attack his own people.

President Donald J. Trump ordered the attack on Al-Shayrat Air Base, the base from which the chemical attack on Syria’s Idlib province was launched. The missiles were launched from U.S. Navy ships in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

The attack is in retaliation for the Syrian dictator for using banned chemical agents in the April 4 attack.

“Bashar al-Assad launched a horrible chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians,” Trump said in a statement to the nation. “Using a deadly nerve agent, Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children. It was a slow and brutal death for so many. Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack. No child of God should ever suffer such horror.”

Vital National Security Interest

Trump ordered the targeted military strike on the airfield that launched the attack. “It is in the vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons,” the president said.

No one disputes that Syria used banned chemical weapons of the people of Idlib, he said, adding that this is a violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Syria also ignored United Nations Security Council resolutions.

“Years of previous attempts at changing Assad’s behavior have all failed and failed very dramatically,” Trump said. “As a result, the refugee crisis continues to deepen and the region continues to destabilize, threatening the United States and its allies.”

Trump called on all civilized nations to join the United States in seeking an end to the slaughter in Syria, and to end the threat terrorism poses in the blighted nation.

Details of Strike

Shortly after the president’s address, Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis issued a statement providing details of the strike. It took place at about 8:40 p.m. EDT -- 4:40 a.m.  April 7 in Syria, he said.

By John Lee.

Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) and Russia's Lukoil have formed a joint venture to market crude oil.

In a statement, the Iraqi Oil Ministry said Litasco -- Lukoil‘s international marketing and trading arm -- would help sell Iraqi crude and train Iraqi staff in marketing.

(Source: Ministry of Oil)