By John Lee. Reuters reports that top oil trader Vitol has apologised to the Iraqi government for buying Kurdish oil that was exported via Turkey without Baghdad's permission. Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul-Kareem Luaibi [Elaibi] said on in Vienna: "In terms of Vitol, they have cancelled the Kurdish amount and they apologised officially ... As for […]
By John Lee. Reuters reports that oil exports from Iraqi Kurdistan have halved to around 100,000 bpd in recent days. An Iraqi oil official said on Monday that the Kurdistan Regional Government had told Baghdad's State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) that exports were reduced because operators were "facing some technical problems that will take some […]
By John Lee. DNO International was advised by the Kurdistan Regional Government that a payment of USD 160 million was transferred last night for distribution to the foreign members of the Tawke joint venture in partial payment for past oil exports of oil from the Tawke field in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. DNO's share […]
By John Lee. Reuters reports that LUKoil, Russian’s biggest non-state oil producer, which is believed to be considering buying ExxonMobil's stake in the West Qurna-1 oil field, has bought oil from Kurdistan in defiance of Baghdad. Baghdad has long insisted it has the sole right to export oil, but LUKoil's Geneva-based trading arm Litasco has […]
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Gryshchenko Kostyantyn on his first visit to the Kurdistan Region met with President Masoud Barzani, Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, and government ministers in Erbil. Mr Kostyantyn came to the Kurdistan Region as part of his visit to Iraq and arrived in Erbil from Baghdad. President Barzani and Foreign Minister Kostyantyn discussed ways […]
The Kurdistan Region President and Prime Minister last week met with France’s Ambassador to Iraq, Mr Gauer Denys, and a French business delegation representing major French companies and business associations. In his meeting with the delegation, President Masoud Barzani said that the Kurdistan Region is eager to enhance economic relations with French companies and thanked […]
A senior delegation from the Kurdistan Regional Government discussed ways to further strengthen bilateral relations with the UK at a meeting with Britain's Minister for the Middle East, Alistair Burt. Falah Mustafa Bakir, Head of the KRG Department of Foreign Relations, and Professor Serwan Baban, Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, met Mr Burt while […]
By John Lee. The chief executive of French energy giant Total, Christophe de Margerie (pictured), has said that it is not clear if Iraq wants the company to withdraw from the Halfaya oilfield due to its dealings in Iraqi Kurdistan. Total recently acquired a 20 percent interest in the Taza oil exploration block there from […]
By John Lee. Vast Exploration has announced that along with its consortium partners, Niko Resources and Groundstar Resources, it has entered into a relinquishment and termination agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government to surrender their collective interests in the Qara Dagh Block (pictured). Vast acquired a working interest in the block under a production sharing […]
By Abdul-Khaleq Dosky. This article was originally published by Niqash. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The tension between Iraqi Kurdistan and the leadership in Baghdad doesn’t seem to have diminished lately. NIQASH asked the Iraqi Kurdish why the Russians and Exxon […]
By John Lee. The Iraqi Government has reportedly told Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom, to abandon oil deals in Kurdistan or face losing the lucrative Badra oilfield contract. The field, which is estimated to have reserves of 100 million barrels, is being developed by Gazprom (30%), Korea’s KOGAS (22.5%), […]
Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlăţean concluded an official visit to the Kurdistan Region yesterday in which he met with KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and officially opened the Consular Office of the Romanian Embassy in Erbil. The Foreign Minister expressed admiration for the political and economic developments in the Kurdistan Region and said that the […]
