Custom Search

Greece's top refiner, Hellenic Petroleum, is said to be considering taking supplies of Iraq's Kirkuk crude oil, following its suspension of purchases of Iranian crude as a result of sanctions on Tehran.

According to the report from Reuters, Greece's financial difficulties had made Athens reluctant to reduce its purchases of cheap Iranian crude ahead of a EU-wide embargo from 1st July, but no European Union banks were willing to handle the business any more, forcing it to suspend buying this month.

The company is now buying crude grades similar to Iranian oil, mainly Urals crude from Russia, as well as Saudi Arab Light grade, although the high official selling prices for the latter have capped April purchases at just one cargo.

(Source: Reuters)

Iraq’s Minister of Transport Hadi al-Amiri (pictured) talks to NIQASH about Iraq’s role in alleged Iranian weapons smuggling into Syria as well US spy drones over Iraq monitoring Iranian activities. “It’s a lie,” al-Amiri says.

Al-Amiri also talks about how a recent visit to Iraq’s neighbour, Kuwait, could see Iraqi Airways flying again. And he clarifies what really went on when the group he heads, the formerly militant Badr Organization, split from the Islamic Supreme Council last week – the move caused ripples in Iraqi political circles where usually, the sect that votes together, rules together.

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

NIQASH: This week at the United Nations, officials from the United States and Britain accused Iran of shipping weapons to Syria – weapons that are being used by the Syrian government against their own people. And they say the weapons are travelling through Iraqi airspace to get to Iran. What do you think?

Hadi Al-Amiri:  It’s a lie. If weapons were being transported, we would have been informed. Some time ago, weapons heading for the United Arab Emirates went through Iraq; we were informed about that, we gave our permission and the shipment went through. That’s how things should be done.

Now the US claims that Iran is transporting weapons to Syria through the Iraqi air space.  This is just another part of the way the US lies and spreads propaganda. Yes, there are flights from Iran to Syria passing over Iraq – but there are also flights heading to Jordan, and to Europe. Thousands of plans use Iraqi air space every month. Some just fly over, others land here. There’s no country in the world that forces all flights passing overhead to land so that their cargo can be inspected!

NIQASH: So you’re saying that Iraqi officials wouldn’t even know if weapons were actually being transported through their airspace?

Al-Amiri: If there is any doubt about this, we won’t give an air craft permission to use our airspace.  The Americans told us that there were weapons being transported through our airspace so we asked them to provide us with evidence of this. We also contacted the Iranians and told them that we don’t allow weapons transported through our airspace. We also said that if we get any evidence that indicates that this is happening, we’ll stop Iranian planes flying through our airspace.

Additionally Iran would be shipping US-made weapons – that’s what they have. And the Syrian regime has Russian-made weapons. The only people in Syria using US-made weapons are the Syrian [anti-Assad regime] revolutionaries and they’re getting these from Turkey.

I’d also like to point out that Iran can ship far more weapons to Syria by sea – ten times more, in fact. So why would it be using our air space?

Gulftainer, the largest privately owned port operator in the world based in Sharjah, has recently appointed Jay New as its new Commercial Director. Jay will be based in the Sharjah headquarters, overseeing and progressing the company's commercial operations in the region and worldwide.

Jay has worked in the ports, shipping and logistics field for over 20 years and brings with him an abundance of knowledge gained from across the entire transport supply chain. He holds an Honours Degree from the University of Leeds as well as being a graduate of the London Business School in the UK.

Jay has spent 10 years with Maersk Line working as both Line Manager for four major global traders and then as Managing Director of a Maersk Line Shipping Agency and Logistics unit. Jay left Maersk Line in 2007 and moved into the port industry working for Hutchison Port Holdings, where his most recent position was Chief Representative for the Africa region. Jay's background will allow him to grow the existing business within the current Gulftainer portfolio and to work on increasing the presence of Gulftainer in business ventures across the globe.

With a strong commercial background and experience in contract negotiations and competitive analysis, Jay has been responsible for setting the strategic direction and targets of organizations, in addition to managing overall performance.

Gulftainer has been able to maintain a strong position in the UAE through its ports at Sharjah and Khorfakkan, and in recent years it has invested in Iraq, Russia and Brazil. This trend is expected to continue and Jay is already working on many opportunities where Gulftainer will bring its experience in pure container management, but also in the development of multi-purpose ports into modern functioning facilities.

Peter Richards, Gulftainer MD, said:

"In keeping with our growing operations and expansion in the region and beyond, we are delighted to appoint Jay as Commercial Director at Gulftainer, with responsibility for all commercial activities within the company. Jay has a wealth of experience in international shipping and logistics and brings with him a range of skills and expertise that will enable him to empower the team in pursuit of a clear and positive strategy."

"I am delighted to have joined Gulftainer at such an exciting time in the company's history," said Jay "Gulftainer has an incredible reputation for excellent service and productivity around the region and I am looking forward to taking that reputation onto the global stage."

Gulftainer Group has been operating in the UAE and around the world for over 35 years. In the UAE it operates three main UAE ports: two on behalf of the Sharjah Port Authority - Sharjah Container Terminal (SCT) and Khorfakkan Container Terminal (KCT); and one in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi, on behalf of the international plastics solutions company, Borouge.

The citizens and authorities in what is potentially Iraq’s wealthiest oil boom town are upset. They say oil companies are causing environmental problems and Baghdad is getting rich while they’re missing out, 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.

The southern Iraqi region of Basra is estimated to hold about two thirds of all of the country's oil reserves. It is also home to the giant oil fields of Rumaila, Zubair and West Qurna which also produce a significant amount of natural gas.

And late last year the central government in Baghdad signed new contracts for further exploitation of these resources with multi-national energy companies, Shell and Mitsubishi. Around 12 international oil companies are currently working in Basra province, including Russia's Lukoil, Italy's Eni and China’s National Petroleum Corporation.

Yet the people of Basra feel they have seen barely any benefit from the natural resources in their home region. Despite the oil and gas in the area and the region’s potential to be Iraq’s wealthiest, “citizens’ living standards are still dire, unemployment is widespread, infrastructure is missing and reconstruction is not going anywhere,” local tribal leader, Falah al-Asdi, said.

Additionally, al-Asdi said the companies involved in Basra were not addressing any of these problems. For example, Basra was beginning to experience a housing shortage because land was being reserved for oil and gas exploration and extraction.

“These companies were supposed to take the initiative and implement both construction and service projects. But up until now all we have seen them do is pay lip service to these ideas,” al-Asdi complained.

Bloomberg reports that Lukoil, Russia’s biggest non- state oil producer, will sign an agreement with Samsung this week for the development of the West Qurna-2 oilfield.

Samsung will install “a crude-gathering facility and a central processing plant for West Qurna-2,” the Iraqi Oil Ministry said on Tuesday. The deal is expected to be signed on 22nd March.

According to Dow Jones, the central processing facility, or CPF, will cost $998 million, and it is expected to take 31 months to complete.

Lukoil expects to complete the purchase of Statoil’s stake in the oilfield in May, following which it may invite new partners to join the project.

(Source: Bloomberg, Dow Jones)

Lukoil plans to boost investment at its West Qurna-2 oil field in Iraq to about $2 billion this year.

Russia’s largest non- state company plans to carry out drilling and begin construction of a pipeline as it prepares the field for the start of production.

The company invested more than $200 million in the project last year, a Moscow-based spokesman for the company’s overseas unit told Bloomberg.

Last week, Iraqi oil minister, Abdul Karim Luaibi [Elaibi], approved the sale of Statoil's 18.75% stake in the oil field to Lukoil, the project operator.

(Source: Bloomberg)

Platts reports that the Iraqi oil minister, Abdul Karim Luaibi [Elaibi], has approved the sale of Statoil's 18.75% stake in the giant West Qurna-2 oil field to the project operator, Russia's Lukoil.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that the Norwegian oil giant has confirmed that it is in talks to sell its stake to Lukoil.

"Both Lukoil and the Iraq authorities have confirmed that we have initiated a process of transferring our interests in the West Qurna 2 project," a Statoil spokesman said.

"I can confirm the process is ongoing but cannot say anything more. We will inform the market when the process is completed," he said.

Lukoil declined to comment.

Analysts believe the move by Statoil makes sense as it would enable the company to concentrate more on projects elsewhere.

"This is positive for Statoil -- they can now focus on areas where they can utilize their core compentences of deepwater and harsh climate drilling. That's not being used in onshore Iraq," said analyst Carl Christian Bachke at brokers RS Platou.

"This is a small part of Statoil's overall asset base. What is interesting is that these service contracts in southern Iraq were done at levels which were not as prosperous as the majors had assumed when they entered Iraq. Lukoil's and Statoil's bids were the lowest, at ridiculously low levels," Bachke said.

Statoil currently holds an 18.75% stake in the field, Lukoil has 56.25% and Iraq's South Oil Company the remaining 25%.

The production target from the field is 1.8 million b/d, up from virtually nothing now, to be held for 10 years beginning in 2017.

The consortium agreed to receive costs recovered and split a $1.15/barrel remuneration fee.

Lukoil CEO Vagit Alekperov said on 22 February that the company was likely to delay again the startup of West Qurna 2 to early 2014, but initial production from the field is now expected to be at a higher level of around 300,000 bpd.

(Sources: Platts, Reuters)

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (pictured) announced on Thursday that Russia would continue helping Iraq to become a democratic, independent country and to preserve its territorial integrity, something that meets the Iraqi people’s interests and is in line with regional stability and security.

In a letter delivered to Iraqi Prime Minister, he also signaled Russia's readiness to deepen bilateral trade and economic relations between the two countries, including in the energy and agriculture sectors.

This message was handed to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during his meeting with a Russian delegation in Baghdad.

(Source: TASS)

LUKoil, Russia's largest private oil company, may start production at the giant West Qurna-2 oilfield in early 2014, according to a report from RIA Novosti.

"We will launch [production at the oilfield] at the end of 2013 or at the beginning of 2014," company head Vagit Alekperov said on Wednesday.

The Russian company will invest about $4.5 billion in the project in the next three years.

"Oil production in Iraq will amount to 1.7 million barrels in 2017, while we will explore 600 wells [there]. Every well will give from five to six tons per day," he also said.

In 2009, a consortium of LUKoil and Norway's Statoil won a tender to develop West Qurna-2, but recent reports suggest that Statoil wants to sell its share to LUKoil.

(Source: RIA Novosti)

Reuters reports that Iraq's cabinet has approved a $329.8 million tender with British oil service firm Petrofac for the country's Badra oilfield.

Petrofac plans to build a major crude processing facility to help production at the field to reach 170,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) in 2017, a target which was set by Iraq's oil ministry.

Russia's Gazprom Neft, Turkey's TPAO, South Korea's KOGAS and Malaysia's Petronas, are teaming up to develop the field near the Iran border, which has estimated reserves of 100 million barrels.

Gazprom Neft, expects to start commercial production of 15,000 bpd of oil at the Badra field in August 2013.

(Source: Reuters)