ShaMaran Posts Loss In First Quarter
ShaMaran Petroleum has announced its financial and operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2012: Highlights The Appraisal Work Program and Budget on the Atrush Block has been approved by the KRG. The Program consists of 3D seismic and a number of appraisal wells and studies. 3D seismic acquisition on the Atrush Block […]
Shell’s Majnoon Deal Highlights Iraqs Oil Target
Shell is in negotiations with the Oil Ministry over the final development of Iraq’s Majnoon field, a lower more realistic production target is seen as an integral part of the discussions. The Majnoon oilfield is one of four giant fields which are seen as integral to Iraqs ambition to more than double its oil output […]
Genel Energy Interim Management Statement
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) instructed all contractors who are operating currently in the Kurdistan region to halt the export of crude oil. Due to this the portion of crude oil produced by the company’s two producing fields, Taq Taq and Tawke, which were destined for export via the Iraqi national pipeline has been halted. […]
Heritage Oil Update on Miran West-3 Exploration Well
Heritage Oil has successfully drilled and tested the Miran West-3 well. The well is situated in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, drilling has been taking place since August 2011, ir has successfully reached a total depth of 3,528 metres after encountering the primary gas bearing reservoir interval in the Jurassic. Testing of the main Jurassic […]
Iraq Spat With Turkey Over Regional Power Game
Turkey's growing rift with Iraq has exposed its role in the Middle East with Ankara protecting its stability from an Iranian-Iraqi “Shi’ite axis” with the withdrawal of the US military. Turkish officials have been in a war of words with Baghdad since December when the Shi’ite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered the arrest of Sunni […]
Oil Ministry Prepare for Fourth Auction
Preparations are being made for a fourth auction of oil and natural gas exploration zones. This will be in line with the country's aim to rival Saudi Arabia as one of the world’s leading oil producers. Iraq’s official statistics reveal that oil reserves are pegged at 143.1 billion barrels, the fourth largest in the world. […]
Halliburton Lands $95m Gazprom deal at Badra
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 […]
Why Strawberries? An Effective Development Tool
By Bob Nottelmann, crop production specialist with California Pacific Plant Exports (Cal Pacific) and Ekland Marketing of California (Emco). The introduction of commercial strawberry production in Iraq has been a satisfying success. Following the initial introduction of certified nursery stock to a few trial growers in 2009, the production of strawberries in the country has […]
Al-Fayha sees Precast Future for better Iraq
Sarmad Al-Khudairi, CEO of Al-Fayha Building Solutions, one of the biggest industrial contractors and service providers in south Iraq, is focusing resources on its precast concrete business in response to soaring demand, according to a report in Construction Week. He told CW in an interview: “We are focusing on our main business, which is the […]
Zhenhua Backs Out of Iraq Venture; PPL to Proceed Alone
The Chinese firm Zhenhua has decided not to partner with Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) in a bid for an exploration block in Iraq due to security issues, the Express Tribune reports. "The News", however, reports that Zhenhua walked out on the deal because a re-drawing of the boundary of the Bloc-9 meant "the opportunity became […]
Wheat Prices Surge on Iraq Purchases
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)
Weekly Security Update for 17th May 2012
Levels of violence fell slightly in Iraq last week. At least 27 people were killed and 73 injured in nationwide incidents. A total of 19 non-suicide bomb attacks left 16 people dead and 55 injured. This constitutes a lower than normal figure for the country, although the decline is likely to be temporary. Two further […]