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By Simon Kent.

When Coalition aircraft began targeting ISIS oil operations last year, they did so under strict rules of engagement that were designed to minimize civilian casualties: many of those transporting the oil were deemed civilians trying to earn a living under ISIS rule.

Tactics in the early days of the Tidal Wave II bombing operation involved targeting mostly modular refineries and oil wells, hitting the 200 wells in Syria and hammering ISIS oil production from 70,000 bpd to around 40,000 bpd.

In Iraq, the fields under ISIS control such as Qayyara near Mosul, produced only 8000 bpd of very heavy crude, and this is now thought to be an almost crippled operation, since fuel costs in Mosul are now extremely high.

Subsequently, oil fell from being a main source of cash for the group to being only a fragment of their income, a fact revealed by documents captured by a US Special Forces raid into Syria. That raid killed the chief of ISIS oil operations, known as Abu Sayyaf.

Things only got worse for the group as the US decided to finally target ISIS oil tanker trucks, dropping warning leaflets to the truckers instructing them to run from their vehicles. The raids hit hundreds of tankers near Al Qaim in Iraq in late November.

Russia soon joined these strikes, which probably destroyed the majority of available fuel trucks in ISIS territory.

ISIS has since been more reliant on small home made refineries that according to one US official, resemble pre-20th century production. The group struggles to get more than $20 per barrel for this oil, which is mostly sold within Syria and is probably hitting less than 30,000 bpd production.

(Various sources)

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

Russian intelligence has spotted up to 12,000 tankers and trucks on the Turkish-Iraqi border, the General Staff of Russia’s armed forces has reported.

“The [aerial] imagery was made in the vicinity of Zakho (a city in Iraqi Kurdistan), there were 11,775 tankers and trucks on both sides of the Turkish-Iraqi border,” Lieutenant-General Sergey Rudskoy told journalists on Friday.

By Simon Kent.

Iraq's oil minister Adel Abdul Mahdi (pictured) has spoken to Reuters regarding Iraq's position on OPEC's failure to agree on a production ceiling as the battle to drive out shale production continues.

Abdul Mahdi said that Iraq was now looking at the "real world" and that they would have to monitor production in countries such as Russia and the US, and potentially coordinate with those producers.

The alternative, he said, was for non-OPEC producers to risk cutting production and losing both production and cost if actions were not coordinated to defend prices.

(Source: Reuters) 

By John Lee.

The international airports at Erbil (pictured) and Sulaymaniyah have been closed due to Russian aerial operations against Islamic State (IS, ISIS, ISIL) militants in Syria, according to a report from BasNews.

Iraqi aviation authorities told the airports to close on Sunday evening for 48 hours -- flights are scheduled to resume on Tuesday December 8th at 23:00 (20:00 GMT).

(Source: BasNews)

Wood Group has won a new contract worth approximately $90 million to deliver services to one of the world’s leading blue-chip international oil companies (IOC) in Iraq.

Wood Group PSN (WGPSN) will provide project management for an onshore facility under the three year contract, which is effective immediately.

Concept and FEED work for future projects will also be included in the contract, which creates more than 100 new positions and retains 20 jobs.

Personnel will be based in Wood Group offices in Iraq and Dubai.

David Buchan (pictured), WGPSN's Eastern Europe, Russia, Caspian and Middle East (ERC & MER) managing director said:

“This major contract builds on our strong partnerships with clients in Iraq. We look forward to leveraging Wood Group’s international knowledge and expertise towards the continued success and development of our client’s facility.

“Iraq is an area where we see significant growth opportunities for our broad service capabilities and building our presence in this region is a key objective for us.

"This is reflected in our creation of another office in Dubai, which adds to our presence in the Middle East and our commitment to developing local talent, creating job opportunities and building relationships with the supply chain in Iraq.”

(Source: Wood Group)

By John Lee.

The Chairman of Genel Energy has said that the KRG will begin exporting natural gas to Turkey within two or three years.

Tony Hayward (pictured) told the Atlantic Council conference in Istanbul that 20 billion cubic metres will hit the Turkish market by 2020, with KRG Natural Resources Minister Ashti Hawrami saying that initial exports of 10 billion cubic metres should be realised over the next two or three years.

Hayward said:

“Two years ago, I said the KRG would be a major oil exporter. Now I talk about something different as 150 billion cubic meters of gas has been found and a total of 5 trillion cubic meters of gas will be explored in the region. This amount can satisfy Turkey's gas requirement for 50 years.”

According to the report from BasNews, Turkey is heavily reliant on gas from Russia and Iran, and would welcome the option to take cheaper gas from the estimated 300 – 400 billion cubic metres of reserves held in the two Iraqi Kurdistan fields operated by Genel.

(Source: BasNews)

Forces fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant continue to make progress in Iraq and Syria, the Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman said today.

"We're starting to see changes in the way ISIL operates every day on the ground here. That doesn’t mean this is over. We're a long way from over," Army Col. Steve Warren said.

Speaking to Pentagon reporters via teleconference from Baghdad, Warren said indigenous ground forces continue to consolidate gains across the battlefield.

"We're seeing the impacts of our operations to defeat ISIL," he said.

Vetted Syrian opposition forces and New Syrian Forces successfully seized the towns of Harjala and Dalha after a tough fight last week, he said.

"This is important because it’s the first successful offensive operation since June along the Mar'a line," he noted.

Weakening Vehicle Bomb Effectiveness

Warren said the effectiveness of vehicle bombs used by ISIL is at five percent.

He said Iraqi forces have improved their ability in identifying and destroying such bombs, and targeted strikes by coalition and Iraqi aircraft have destroyed vehicle bomb factories.

"Taking out their oil today won't necessarily make something change tomorrow, but it will make something change downstream," he said. "But hitting these ... factories, we are seeing an impact."

There are fewer vehicle bombs on the battlefield, Warren said. The ones that remain are not well-made and will often self-detonate before they reach their target, he said.

"They're softer for us, so they're easier for us to kill, or for the [Iraqi security forces] to kill," the colonel said.

By Simon Kent.

The Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority has suspended flights from Baghdad to Sulaymaniyah and Erbil in the Kurdish region of Iraq (KRI) for two days, effective from today.

The move follows concern that Russian jets and cruise missiles pass though that airspace from the Caspian Sea region, to targets in Syria.

It is unclear why the suspension was for two days only, but Iraq coordinates with Russian intelligence in Baghdad, so this may be a reason.

(Source: ABC News)

This article was originally published by Niqash. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

Cap in Hand: Kurdish Will Return to Baghdad to Negotiate Oil Exports

Iraqi Kurdistan's plan to export oil independently does not seem to be working. Sources say politicians will be heading back to Baghdad soon to hammer out a new deal. But nobody seems to think it will succeed.

Just a few days ago it seemed that the financial oil-for-budget standoff between Baghdad and the semi-autonomous northern region of Iraqi Kurdistan had reached a conclusion: Iraq's oil sales had slumped and the Iraqi Kurdish looked to be going it alone, exporting oil produced within their region and keeping the funds from sales.

At the beginning of the year the country's Kurdish region had been trying to keep up their end of a bargain – they export their oil and send the proceeds to Baghdad and in return, Baghdad promised the region's authorities 17 percent of the national budget.

Although there have been conflicting reports about who sent what and when, what was clear was that neither party had kept up their side of the deal exactly.

And by October, there was no Kurdish oil included in federal Iraq's oil exports. The Iraqi Kurdish government justified their independent sales by saying that, if Baghdad didn't pay them their share of the national budget, then they needed to look out for themselves.

And to many observers it seemed as though Iraqi Kurdistan was readying for some version of economic independence.

However that doesn't seem to be the case. Recently Safeen Dizayee, spokesperson for the government of Iraqi Kurdistan, announced that a senior delegation would soon be visiting Baghdad to discuss controversial issues related to oil and the federal budget.