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Russia’s Lukoil is seeking partnerships with Asian oil firms to develop the West Qurna-2 project.

The company's Vice-President, Leonid Fedun (pictured), told investors at a company presentation in Hong Kong:

“We are holding talks with several potential bidders, including Asian firms. I believe we may get positive news by the end of this year.”

Lukoil was originally granted a 56.25% stake in the field in 2009, with Norway's Statoil holding 18.75% and Iraq's state oil company the remaining 25%. However, in March Lukoil agreed to buy Statoil's, bringing its holding to 75%.

With estimated reserves of 12.9 billion barrels, West Qurna-2 is one of the world's largest oilfields.

(Source: RT)

Halliburton has won a $95 million contract from Russian state oil producer Gazprom Neft to test and complete 11 wells at its Badra oil field in eastern Iraq, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Gazprom said testing of the first well is scheduled to start in the third quarter of this year. "Production will commence once the final field development plan is completed in 2013," the Russian firm said.

The field, which has estimated reserves of 100 million barrels of oil, is being developed by Gazprom (30%), Korea’s KOGAS (22.5%), Malaysia’s Petronas (15%), Turkey’s TPAO (7.5%), and Iraq (25%).

(Source: Wall Street Journal)

Wheat prices surged on Wednesday after Iraq said it bought 400,000 metric tons from the U.S., Australia, Russia, Romania and Kazakhstan.

The contracts are for delivery in July and August, a spokesman for the grain board told Bloomberg.

(Sources: Bloomberg, Reuters)

Russia’s Gazprom Neft is expecting to start exporting from its East Badrah oil field in Wasit [Wassit] province early next year, according to AKnews.

Alexander V Kolomatsky, Project director for the Middle East at Gazprom, said the company had initially planned to reach the 15,000 bpd level by the last quarter of 2013 because the oil field, which is near Iraq’s border with Iran, had to be first cleared of landmines.

But progress in the de-mining work however has led to this figure being pulled forward to early 2013, with 60,000 bpd expected by mid year, and 120,000 bpd by the beginning of 2014.

The field, which has estimated reserves of 100 million barrels of oil, is being developed by Gazprom (30%), Korea’s KOGAS (22.5%), Malaysia’s Petronas (15%), Turkey’s TPAO (7.5%), and Iraq (25%).

(Source: AKnews. Iraq Energy)

Lukoil, Russia's second-largest crude oil producer, has confirmed that it will be able to develop Iraq's West Qurna-2 oilfield without partners.

"Today we are able to implement this project by ourselves," president Vagit Alekperov told reporters in the Spanish city of Barcelona on Friday.

Reuters reports that production from the field will reach 150,000 barrels per day by the end of 2013, and increase steadily to 500,000 barrels in the second half of 2014.

(Source: Reuters)

Russia's Deputy Prime Minister, Dmitry Rogozin, said on Tuesday that both Libya and Iraq continue to show interest in buying Russian-made weaponry despite regime changes in these countries.

According to RIA, the minister, who oversees the Russian defense industry, told reporters in Moscow: “The Libyan military leadership and the Iraqi government have shown serious interest [in Russian weaponry].”

After the fall of Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq and Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in Libya, many experts had suggested Russia lost both lucrative arms markets.

He said acting Iraqi Defence Minister, Sadoun al-Dulaimi [Sadun al-Dulaymi] (pictured), had recently visited Russia and discussed the current state of bilateral military-technical cooperation with the Russian officials.

(Source: RIA)

Exxon Mobil is conspicuously absent from the finalized list of 47 pre-qualified bidders for the Iraq's fourth round of energy exploration rights.

The Petroleum Contracts and Licensing Directorate (PCLD) at the Ministry of Oil has confirmed that the auction will take place as scheduled on May 30-31.

The full list of pre-qualified companies is shown below:

Shares in Heritage Oil (LSE: HOIL) closed down 2% on Wednesday following the announcement of its results for the twelve months ended 31 December 2011:

2011 Operational Highlights

• Awarded new licences in Tanzania which Heritage believes could be geologically analogous to the Lake Albert Basin, providing the Company with a key advantage in assessing the blocks
• Entered Libya through an acquisition which makes Heritage well placed to be able to play a significant role in the future development of the oil and gas industry in Libya
• Appraisal drilling, in Kurdistan, commenced on the Miran West-3 well and results to date have confirmed oil in the Upper Cretaceous and gas in the Lower Cretaceous and Jurassic reservoirs
• An interval, above the main Jurassic reservoir, in the Miran West-3 well has recently been tested and resulted in a flow of up to 17.5 MMscfd of dry gas
• Acquired seismic on the southern portion of the Miran Block which has identified the presence of a structure capable of containing additional resources
• Completed seismic in Mali, Malta and Tanzania
• Drilled first horizontal well in Russia which exceeded pre-drill expectations resulting in a year-on-year increase in production of 24%

2011 Financial Highlights

• Cash of $311 million, excluding amounts relating to the Ugandan tax dispute
• Production averaged 673 bopd, an increase of 24% from 2010 levels
• Average realised price of $36.9/bbl, an increase of 45% from 2010 levels
• Total cash capital expenditures increased to $135 million

Outlook

• Miran East-1 well commenced drilling in March 2012 with results expected at the end of the third quarter 2012
• Further test results expected from the Miran West-3 well
• Undertaking work to identify a suitable drilling location in the southern portion of the Miran Block
• Work programmes are commencing in Tanzania on newly awarded acreage
• Planning for a high-impact exploration well offshore Malta
• Actively looking for further opportunities

Tony Buckingham (pictured), Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"2011 has been a year in which we have enhanced the asset portfolio through the addition of acreage, investing in opportunities and through existing work programmes. We currently have two rigs drilling in Kurdistan and are reviewing results from seismic campaigns that could provide future growth in the portfolio. We are looking to further develop the existing portfolio and continue to look for value generating opportunities within our core areas."

For some, last week’s Arab League summit was a dream come true; for others, it was a traffic, business and security nightmare. according to this article from NIQASH.

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

Praise and criticism has been flying ever since - as have rumours about cell phone censorship and why the waiters wore Italian suits.

Last week the “Iraqi dream” came true. At least, that is, if one is to believe the organizers of the Arab League summit, held in Baghdad last week. They said that the summit was incredibly successful simply because it brought together representatives of all the Arab states in the League in Baghdad for the first time in over two decades – with the exception of Syria, of course, whose membership has been suspended due to ongoing violence there.

Additionally the summit was also attended by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and former Turkish diplomat, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, now the Secretary-general of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, a body that aims to encourage cooperation between nations that are mostly Muslim.

“The summit was able to bring Iraq out of isolation and put the country back on the map,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said – this was after years of isolation brought about, firstly, by the policies of former dictator Saddam Hussein and then through the US occupation of Iraq.

“The Iraqi government succeeded in organizing this regional summit and it was able to handle all of the security, organizational and administrative aspects. It was even capable of handling the political aspects efficiently. By all standards, the summit was a huge success,” Zebari enthused. “We’ve passed a very difficult test with flying colours.”

Russian-based news agency RT interviews an anti-capitalist campaigner about the excalating tensions between Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdistan:

(Source: RT)