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The Middle East Economic Survey (MEES) reports that Norwegian producer Statoil ASA is trying to sell its stake in the West Qurna-2 oilfield.

According to the report, the company may use the negotiations to improve the terms of the West Qurna-2 contract and decide against pulling out.

If a sale happened, it would be the first re- sale of energy assets awarded to international companies during Iraq’s 2009 auction round.

(Source: Bloomberg)

The Iraqi Central Bank (ICB) said it’s under a “currency attack” as traders buy U.S. dollars in daily auctions and resell them on the black market in Syria and Iran, which face hard currency shortages due to sanctions, according to a report from Bloomberg.

Demand for the dollar at the central bank auctions has risen since November to about $200 - $300 million a day, compared with about $160 million per day over the prior 12 months, the deputy central bank governor, Mudher Salih, said in an interview.

He added, “now we are checking the applications to buy dollars from the auctions more closely. We are afraid that some of it may be related to money laundering. We are now under a currency attack because of the regional situation.”

U.S. Treasury Undersecretary David Cohen said on 1st December that Iranians are having trouble accessing foreign currencies due to the plunge in the value of the rial following sanctions.

Syria, Iran’s regional ally, has also come under greater sanctions from the U.S., Europe and some Arab countries over a violent crackdown on pro-reform protests. A European oil embargo is affecting Syria’s revenues and giving the state far less access to foreign exchange, David Butter, regional head for the Middle East at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said last month.

Reuters reports on Wednesday that Iraq has delayed its 4th energy bidding round by more than a month.

Originally scheduled for 7-8 March, the auction for the 12 new gas and oil exploration blocks will now be held on 11-12 April.

Abdul-Mahdy al-Ameedi, director of the oil ministry's contracts and licensing directorate, told Reuters:

"We have decided to push back the bidding process in order to give companies more time to consider the final contract model and also in response to requests by many firms to postpone the auction."

(Source: Reuters)

Thirty-two international companies, including oil majors, have so far bought data packs for Iraq's 4th energy bidding round, according to Dow Jones.

The Iraqi oil ministry has qualified 46 international companies to take part in the bid round, scheduled for March 7, in which 12 exploration blocks will be auctioned.

The purchase of the data packages by these companies mean they are interested in taking part in the bidding round, Abdul Mahdy al-Ameedi, head of the ministry's Petroleum Contracts and Licensing Directorate, told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview in Baghdad.

Meanwhile, a two-day workshop in Amman, Jordan, for participating companies has been postponed from 5th December to 14th December, because of the Muslim Ashora holidays.

Among the companies buying documents so far are:

• Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA),
• Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM),
• BP PLC (BP),
• Eni SpA (ENI.MI),
• Total SA (TOT),
• Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY),
• Chevron Corp. (CVX),
• Lukoil Holding (LKOH.RS),
• Statoil,
• INPEX Corp. (IPBXHY),
• JX Nippon Oil and Gas Exploration or Corp., or JX-NOEX,
• Mitsubishi Corp. (8058.TO),
• Sumitomo Corporation, and
• Turkey's TPAO.

(Source: Dow Jones)

The following article was published by Reidar Visser, an historian of Iraq educated at the University of Oxford and currently based at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. It is reproduced here with the author’s permission. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

More details continue to emerge about the recent deals cut by Exxon Mobil with the Kurdistan Regional Government.

A key point in this respect is newly-emerged information that at least two of the six exploration blocks are in so-called “disputed territories” that are formally part of the Nineveh governorate but since 2003 have been administered by the Kurds who occupied these areas at the beginning of the war. This includes both the Qush and Bashiqa blocks.

In itself, this move by international oil companies into “disputed territory” is not entirely unprecedented in Iraq. Other companies including Hunt Oil and Gulf Keystone have previously concluded deals for blocks in disputed territory in Nineveh.

Once again, it is to some extent of course Exxon’s stature as a “Big Oil” company – and over above that as “American Big Oil” – that is particularly significant as far as the new disputed-territory dimension is concerned. It is noteworthy in this respect that previous attempts by the central government in Baghdad to auction off service contracts in disputed territories in Kirkuk failed, both in the first and second licensing rounds in 2009.

But there is a particular dimension to the Exxon contract for Bashiqa. It is commonly assumed that pro-Kurdish areas of the Nineveh governorate like Shaykhan and even Tall Kayf (where Qush is situated) may eventually gravitate towards the Kurdistan Regional Government when final status negotiations get going – to some extent as the result of pro-Kurdish feeling among Yazidis and Christian minorities there. However, in Bashiqa the situation is far from clear. A good study on the disputed territories by Sean Kane of USIP uses elections data at the district level to highlight Bashiqa as an area of Nineveh where Kurdish claims are not particularly popular among the local electorate.

Dear all,

the wait is finally over and we can 100% confirm the launch of the Walk for Iraq “Empowering the Widows of Mesopotamia” Charity Cruise Event.

We are celebrating our successful 23km walk that took place on 10th September 2011 by 53 dedicated, young individuals and this event is too help us all meet our target and raise as much money as possible for the widows of Iraq.

Details of the event:

• 19th November 2011
• Boat is static at Tower Bridge dock from 6pm
• Boat will dock at 7pm
• Boat will returns at 11pm
• Tickets are sold at £60/head with proceeds of ticket sales directly to charity (approximately 50%)

The night will consist of:

• 4 hour boat cruise on the River Thames across the major touristic hotspots, with a 360 turn at the Big Ben view
• Silver platter dinner - Arabic Halal food + 1 soft drink per person
• Prestigious auction of 5 luxurious items - all proceeds goes to charity
• Raffle prize draw with 10 prizes - all proceeds go to charity
• Professional photographer, with a booth to purchase personal professional reprints - all proceeds go to charity
• DJ and – Celebrity - presenter
• Short speech on - What happens to your donations
• Video clips of the 23km Walk for Iraq
• Free parking

Dress code: Red carpet themed: Suits and ball gowns (please do not worry the boat is completely indoors and you will not be effected by the weather).

If you would like to purchase tickets or would like more information on the event itself, please email all queries and bookings to [email protected] stating the following:

• Full name
• Email address
• Full postal address for tickets to be sent

N.B. for those who have already reserved your tickets, methods of payment will follow soon. Please be aware that 'attending' on facebook will not confirm your place.

We have only 230 places available and have invited over 700 people, with seats rapidly selling. You will need to pay in advance for your ticket and if you would like to sit with your family and friends, please specify the full name in your email OR book your tickets together. There will be tables of 10 or tables of 6. The boat as you can imagine is a long rectangle with the stage at the front of the boat therefore please be quick and reserve your seat as they will be filled up from front to back...

Once you have reserved your place you will be sent account details on how to pay and then a "welcome and thank you" note will be posted to your homes with your ticket, which you will have to bring with you on the night.

Furthermore, as we will expect to raise a lot of money through raffle tickets, reprint photo sales and auctioned items; card machines will be available on board to make sure you do not have to carry much cash with you or run out of money. 😉

P.S. I have been assured by the boat organisers that anyone who suffers from sea sickness will not be affected by this trip, so no excuses!

Once again thank you for the support you have showed to this event so far and remember this event has been decided by YOU so make sure you do not disappoint and get your tickets booked or you will truly miss out on the event of the year.

Looking forward to seeing you all there and as always please voice any questions or concerns via message or wall and we will be quick to reply.

Best wishes,

The Walk For Iraq Team

An adviser to the Resources Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) confirmed on Friday that ExxonMobil has signed agreements to explore for oil and gas in six blocks in Iraqi Kurdistan, according to Dow Jones.

This is big news, as the Baghdad government has previously excluded companies operating in the Kurdish region from oil contracts in the rest of the country; as recently as September Baghdad excluded Hess Corp from participation in the fourth energy licensing round because of its contracts with the KRG.

ExxonMobil is already producing around 370,000 barrels a day of oil from the West Qurna field, under a service contract with the Baghdad government.

According to Reuters, Iraq's government told ExxonMobil last month that any oil exploration contract it signed with the KRG would be illegal and could result in termination of its West Qurna contract, warning of "dire consequences".

(Sources: Reuters, Dow Jones, Financial Times)

The British Iraqi Friendship Society are celebrating their third annual Gala Dinner and charity auction on Thursday 24th November.

The dinner is to be held in the Palace Suite at The Royal Garden Hotel.

The event will commence from 7:00 for 7:30pm.

Cost per head will be £120 inc VAT. Tables of 10-12 are available.

Please click here to download more details and the registration form.

Iraq is looking for $1.5 billion [1.8 trillion Iraqi dinars] in investment in its natural-gas industry in the country’s 4th energy licensing round, set for March, according to Bloomberg.

Natik al-Bayati, a senior petroleum expert on the prime minister’s advisory commission, said that gas from the seven or eight concessions to be offered for bids can be brought to market as early as 2015.

He estimated Iraq’s gas reserves at 130 trillion cubic feet, 80 percent of which is associated gas found together with deposits of crude oil, and said the country expects to add about 30 trillion cubic feet in proved reserves over the next 10 years.

Iraq may have additional, unproved reserves of 100 trillion to 300 trillion cubic feet, of which 80 percent is probably non-associated gas, he said.

(Source: Bloomberg)

Iraq has delayed its 4th energy bidding round to March 7-8 next year, according to a report from Reuters.

"We wanted to give energy companies more time to study the contract terms and also to take into account upcoming holidays like Muslims Eid and Christmas," Sabah Abdul-Kadhim, the head of the legal section of Iraq's Petroleum Contracts and Licensing Directorate, told the news agency.

The auction to award contracts for gas and oil exploration in 12 new blocs was scheduled to have taken place on Jan. 25-26, but Iraq's oil ministry decided to push the date back for technical reasons.

Iraq has qualified 46 energy companies to participate in the auction which is expected to add 29 trillion cubic feet of gas and 10 billion barrels of oil to Iraqi reserves.

Under revised timeframes, energy companies reportedly have until Nov. 11 to submit their feedback on the exploration model contracts and a final tender protocol and final contract will be published on Jan. 27, Abdul-Kadhim said.

Iraq set a new deadline of February 3 for interested companies to pay the participation fees.

(Source: Reuters)