By John Lee. The head of Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) has said the world’s major oil producers must agree to freeze production, in order to shore up flagging oil prices. Falah Alamri said: “They should do this deal as this is the only way to support the oil price ... Everybody needs it […]
By John Lee. Iraqi Oil Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi [Adil Abd Al-Mahdi] (pictured) has said Iraq was willing to accept a decision by OPEC and non-OPEC members to cut crude production. Reuters quotes the Minister as saying: “Iraq will agree and cooperate if producers really want to cooperate to cut.” (Sources: Reuters, Shafaaq)
By Simon Kent. Iraq's oil minister Adel Abdul Mahdi (pictured) has spoken to Reuters regarding Iraq's position on OPEC's failure to agree on a production ceiling as the battle to drive out shale production continues. Abdul Mahdi said that Iraq was now looking at the "real world" and that they would have to monitor production in countries […]
By Simon Kent. Traders in Europe have reported to Reuters that the Basra Light grade of crude is selling for $30 on the European market, as Iraq gains on Saudi Arabia as one of the main suppliers of oil to EU countries. Last year, Basra split its exports into Basra Light and Basra Heavy grades and […]
By John Lee. Iraq is committing 27,000 security personnel to protect its oil and energy infrastructue from attacks by the Islamic State (IS, ISIS, ISIL). Oil Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi (pictured) announced the new force following the latest round of meeting with the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). According to a report from The […]
By John Lee. Genel Energy's chief executive has said he may step down as CEO as early as the end of this year to become Chairman. Reuters reports that Tony Hayward (pictured) also told the FT Commodities Summit in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Wednesday that low oil prices will trigger consolidation in the oil industry in […]
By John Lee. Iraq and Russia are leading the global surge in oil exports despite a highly competitive market. This has maintained low prices not seen since 2009, with a February settlement for Brent Crude at $56.42 a barrel. Bloomberg reported record export data of 10.6 million barrels a day from Russia and 2.9 million bpd […]
By John Lee. It's a deal that could cement a prosperous shared future for Baghdad and Arbil. But despite the new good will between the two sides, there is huge political opposition from Iraqi Arabs who object to the current terms. In the Kurdish region, many feel that the history has already turned toward their […]
By John Lee. The State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) has denied that it is waging a price war against other oil producers. The company recently slashed price to its Asian customers due to what it described as "changes in the market" but has denied that this was an attempt to undercut other members of the […]
By John Cookson. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Traders will tell you the price of oil is a speculative market based on expectations. Most of Iraq's oil production is from the mega fields in the south, far from any fighting. But […]
By John Lee. Iraq and Iran, which together hold more oil reserves than Saudi Arabia, are planning to challenge Saudi Arabia's grip on OPEC and its status as the "swing producer" in the cartel, according to a report from The Telegraph. With Iraq poised to triple its capacity to 9 million bpd by 2020, the result […]
On Friday, the International Energy Agency warned that oil supply from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries was falling, as it raised its forecast for demand for the exporters group's crude this year. "Continued supply outages in Iraq and Libya…may reduce the group's output in coming months," the IEA said in its monthly oil […]
