By John Lee. Reuters has reported that BP will undertake work to arrest declining production at the Kirkuk oilfield, in a move that has outraged the Kurdistan Regional Government. Abdul Mahdy al-Ameedi, head of the oil ministry's Petroleum Contracts and Licensing Directorate (PCLD), told The Wall Street Journal that a request has been sent to […]
By John Lee. Iraqi troops have closed the only major border crossing with Jordan on Wednesday, after Sunni Muslim demonstrators blocked a highway to Syria and Jordan as part of mass protests against Shi'ite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The crossing at Traibil [Turaybeel, Tirbil, Tarbiel] (pictured) is in the Sunni province of Anbar, where protests […]
By John Lee. Informed sources in Basra claim that the provincial government intends to open a border crossing with Saudi Arabia with the aim of increasing exports. Both NINA news agency and Aswat al-Iraq report that the crossing will be in the Ouja al-Batin area, northwest of Basra. The crossing is expected to be opened […]
By John Lee. Iraq reportedly reopened its main al-Qaim border crossing with Syria to refugees on Tuesday, having closed it for several weeks, but it continues to deny entry to single men under the age of 50. A spokesman for the displacement and migration ministry told AFP that 150 people had crossed from Syria on […]
By John Lee. Iraqi forces have closed the Al-Qaim border checkpoint with Syria with a three-metre concrete wall, Xinhua reports. Syrian rebels waged fierce battles with regime troops in the town of Albu Kamal [Al-Bukamal] along the Iraqi border, capturing a string of security posts and the local police headquarters. Taking full control of the […]
The exploitation of oilfields jointly held with Iran is again causing tension in Iraq's Diyala province. AKnews reports that Diyala's energy committee chairman, Ismail al-Jabbouri, said: "The Iranian side is extracting large amounts of oil from the common fields within Diyala province. The Oil Ministry was informed about this issue but it did not take […]
By John Lee. Syrian rebels have taken control of one of the country's key border crossings with Iraq, but Syria's neighbour has sealed off its end of the crossing and is not allowing refugees to pass through. Iraq has sent an army division to guard the border post, as the war-weary country grows increasingly concerned […]
By John Lee. Bloomberg reports that Iran has discovered crude reserves near its western Yadavaran oil field along the border with Iraq. Iran's Oil Minister, Rostam Qasemi (pictured), said the discovery of the deposits will add as much as 6 billion barrels to Iran's recoverable reserves. The Yadavaran field, which the country shares with Iraq, […]
Iran and Iraq will start new round of talks in Tehran on 26th May on issues such as developing the Sohrab joint oilfield and establishing a joint oil company, Iran's Mehr News Agency reports. The managing director of the National Iranian Central Oilfields Company, Mehdi Fakour, said that eight drilling rigs are currently in operation […]
The commercial attaché at Iraq's embassy in Saudi Arabia, Ali Jaberal- al-Utti, has reportedly announced the start of negotiations between the two sides to open the Ar Ar [Ara'ar, Arar] border crossing between the two countries. The town is situated in the north of Saudi Arabia, the Iraqi city of Karbala, The nearest town to […]
Mehdi Fakour (pictured), Managing Director of the Iranian Central Oil Fields Company (ICOFC), has announced that Tehran and Baghdad have decided to establish a joint company to developing three joint oil fields, according to the Iranian Fars News Agency. "An Iraqi delegation will visit Iran on February 6 to finalize the establishment of the company," […]
The Oil and Energy committee of Iraq's Council of Representatives announced on Sunday that there are 10 oil fields stradling the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border that are waiting to be demarcated, according to AKnews. Committee member Furat al-Sharei told the agency that the oil will be extracted from these fields after finding joint mechanisms between the countries. […]
