By John Lee. A new hydrocarbon discovery has been made at the Qurnain exploration block in southwest Iraq, marking the first oil find at any block awarded under the fifth supplementary and sixth licensing rounds. The discovery was confirmed following the drilling of exploratory well Shams-11, which began on 10th January 2026. A potential hydrocarbon […]
By John Lee. The Iraqi Oil Exploration Company has completed the two-dimensional seismic survey programme at "Ziggurat-Uruk" in Muthanna and Diwaniyah provinces ahead of schedule. Director General Osama Raouf Hussein visited the Fourth Seismic Team on Thursday and praised the national workforce for completing the project 12 days earlier than planned, achieving 104% of the […]
By Simon Watkins for OilPrice.com. Any opinions expressed are those of the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. U.S. Oil Powerhouse Chevron Is Back In Iraq, But Will It Be Different This Time? U.S. oil and gas supermajor Chevron signed an agreement in principle last week with Iraq's Oil […]
By John Lee. Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa Al-Sudani has overseen the signing of a principles agreement between the Ministry of Oil and US oil company Chevron for the development of several oil projects in Iraq. The agreement covers the Nasiriyah Project, consisting of four exploration blocks, the development of the Balad oil field, and other […]
By John Lee. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani received Richard Howe, Executive Vice President of Shell, on Thursday to discuss expanding cooperation in Iraq's energy sector and exploring further investment opportunities. The meeting addressed the execution of major energy projects under existing contracts with international companies, particularly in natural gas investment aimed at achieving self-sufficiency. […]
By John Lee. Canada's Sonoro Energy has announced the signing of a Heads of Agreement ("HOA") with TransAtlantic Petroleum LLC, a privately owned energy company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, to evaluate production investment opportunities in Iraq. Sonoro is chaired by Sara Akbar (pictured), co-founder of Kuwait Energy Company (KEC), which has had interests in Iraqi […]
By John Lee. The Iraqi Oil Exploration Company recently marked the successful completion of seismic surveys for the two-dimensional Haifa program in the Al-Najaf province. According to the Ministry of Oil, the surveys, conducted by the company, covered extensive areas within record time. This initiative aligns with the Ministry of Oil's plan to conduct seismic […]
By John Lee. A report from Telegraph India suggests that ONGC Videsh Ltd (ONV) is considering resuming operations in Iraq. The company received the rights to Block 20 in the Western Desert (then known as "Block 8") in 2000, but declared force majeur in 2003 due to the security situation at that time. According to […]
By John Lee. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is reportedly setting up two new companies to manage its energy resources. A new Kurdistan Regional Oil Company (KROC) is to specialise in oil exploration, and the Kurdistan Oil Marketing Organization (KOMO) will concern itself with marketing of the oil. The development comes as Erbil and Baghdad […]
By John Lee. Shares in Genel Energy were trading down 7 percent on Tuesday morning after the company announced disappointing results at the Sarta-5 appraisal well: "Genel Energy plc ('Genel' or 'the Company') announces the following update on the Sarta PSC (30% working interest and operator). "Testing of the Sarta-5 appraisal well has been completed. […]
Writing in Oil Price, Simon Watkins says $100 oil has prompted the Iraqi government to fast-track development of more technically challenging oil fields. Click here to read the full article.
By John Lee. The China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) is to press ahead with oil exploration at a 530-km2 offshore block in Basra. Originally agreed in 2019, the work had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In parallel, Iraq's state-owned Oil Exploration Company (OEC) will carry out seismic surveys on the adjoining 120-km2 […]
