By John Lee. Nechirvan Barzani (pictured), Iraqi Kurdistan's Prime Minister, has denied reports that Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) will open an office in Erbil. Kurdish MP, Dilshad Sha’ban, has also told BasNews: “After we heard reports of SOMO wants to open office in Kurdistan region, we followed on the report, and we found […]
By John Lee. The Iraqi State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) has proposed splitting its Basra Light crude supply into two grades. Reuters cites trade sources as saying that SOMO and has requested feedback on the proposal by the end of the week from buyers in Asia. Iraq now plans to offer two grades of crude for […]
By John Lee. Platts reports that Iraq has banned three oil tankers from loading at its oil terminals. in response to direct exports of crude by the Kurdistan Regional Government over the objections of Baghdad, shipping market sources said Friday. The United Carrier (pictured), the United Dynamic and the Nautilus have previously transported crude on […]
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. Spokesman For Iraqi Kurdish Govt: ‘New US Airbase in Erbil No Threat To Iran’ NIQASH interviewed Safeen Dizayee, the spokesperson for the government of semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan. During a candid […]
By John Lee. Reuters reports that a revised contract signed last week by BP and China's CNPC for the Rumaila oilfield has raised both companies' stakes in the project. Thamer Ghadhban (pictured), energy adviser to former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, told the news agency that BP's share has been increased from 38 percent to 47.6 […]
By John Lee. Russia's Gazprom Neft, the operator of the Badra oil field (pictured) in Iraq, has announced that first oil from the field is now being delivered to Iraq’s main pipeline system for transfer to the export terminal in Basra, on the Persian Gulf. Current deliveries from Badra to the pipeline stand at over […]
By John Lee. Just as some observers were saying the dispute looked intractable, Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Hussein al-Shahristani has announced a potentially big breakthrough in the ongoing saga of deal and no deal between Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government over oil exports to Turkey and oil revenues. Reuters has reported that after intensive […]
Oil exports from southern Iraq increased by almost 300,000 bpd in the first two weeks of this year, compared to the December average, according to a report from Reuters. Exports averaged 2.35 million bpd in the first 15 days of January, up from 2.08 million bpd in December. Although this is seen as a sign […]
The KRG Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) gives public notice of the commencement of the sale of its first shipment of crude oil exported via Kurdistan Region’s new pipeline through Turkey to the Port of Ceyhan (pictured). MNR anticipates the sale of the first parcel of two million barrels of exported crude oil to occur […]
By John Lee. Platts reports that Iraqi oil production rose slightly in February to 2.963 million barrels per day (bpd), up by 43,000 bpd over January. Figures from the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) show that Iraq exported 2.536 million bpd last month, 177,000 bpd above January's tally of 2.359 million bpd, and only 78,000 […]
By John Lee. Four industry sources have told Reuters that Swiss oil trader Trafigura is still indirectly supplying gasoline to Iraq through another firm, despite being banned from participating in tenders for 2013 after buying oil from Iraqi Kurdistan. Baghdad's State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) finalised a deal in November to buy 1.56 million tonnes […]
By John Lee. Reuters reports that Iraq has sweetened the terms for oil contract buyers and is becoming more competitive on pricing. Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi [Elaibi], who met customers in Vienna last month on the sidelines of the OPEC meeting, told the news agency: "We were keen that I personally meet all the […]
