Kurdistan Oil & Gas Development

[alan131210]

that is the result of a committee formed by Nujaifi to follow up with KRG, indeed they came to Erbil and met with Hawrami, this is another chance to make them pay for the amounts they owe to oil company's operating expense, lets see if they do pay, i would not hold my breath

[burnsss]

I think that the Sharistani guy is to blame for much of the problems. Hes an old communist who wants to run the country centrally. KRG showed its willing to solve this issue. We shall see what the response is. It would be easy to shut down oil again but that doesnt serve anybody. Imagine Iraq could be exporting much more if it wasnt for Shahristani and other chauvinist.

[alan131210]

shahristani is a hardcore chauvinist and a Kurd hater, when you look at his face you can see hatred in his eyes the guy is hopeless and i do not see anything good coming from him towards Kurdistan so we show just let him bark about, we all know where it got him

[burnsss]

shahristani is a hardcore chauvinist and a Kurd hater, when you look at his face you can see hatred in his eyes the guy is hopeless and i do not see anything good coming from him towards Kurdistan so we show just let him bark about, we all know where it got him

The problem in Iraq is that a few men run the whole show. Shahristani is not even the oil minister and yet have more power than the oil minister. Only tikriti is higher ranked than Shahristani, if Tikriti doesnt change his mind then the situation will never be solved.

[sheytanElKebir]

actually I worked in numerous oil projects in "Iraq"
karbala refinery, - TECHNIP - French Company
nassiriya refinery, - FosterWheeler - US company
rumaila north field - Was working with a US company
and now a new pipeline project - Canadian Company

and all were run by "western" companies... In Rumeila field alone there are 160 international oil service companies and enormous infrastructure... so I think you're being a bit unfair in the characterisation of Iraqi oil contracts. Its true Iraqis drove a very hard bargain... but that means more cash for Iraq plain and simple.

of course I can't blame the IOCs for going to Kurdistan... the profit margins there are eye watering! maybe my next contract will be with a company operating in Kurdistan... who knows?

[alan131210]

We had no choice but to make the oil deals more attractive than Iraq is been chauvinist towards kurdistan by blacklisting anyone who is signing deals which is in the constitution but of course milky and shahrstani love saddam's Ba'ath oil policy better than the Iraqi constitution

Hypocrisy at its best

As for Iraq banning all supermajors leaving Iraq with small to med ones your infrastructure from now on will also be as such

[sheytanElKebir]

As for Iraq banning all supermajors leaving Iraq with small to med ones your infrastructure from now on will also be as such

that's just plain silly, stay within the realm of reality and stop being led by pure hatred. The only company not operating in iraq is chevron and they never wanted a contract in iraq. Exxon is there and maybe total will get booted. but all the other majors are there and most importantly the Iraqi Drilling Company 50/50 Joint venture with Schlumberger! not to mention halliburton, saipem, baker hughes, petrofac, weatherford... (the biggest drillers / oil service companies in the world)...

[alan131210]

all of them are medium companies, the biggest supermajors of the world Exxon Chevron and total are in kurdistan as well as Australian oil search which is big here in Australia.

iraq thought it could outsmart kurdistan but iraq failed miserably. they will also fail at trying to block arm deals KRG has signed with weapon manufactures.

[alan131210]

Aug 1 (Reuters) - Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom, said it had acquired interests in two blocks in Iraq's Kurdistan region after similar moves by international rivals angered the central Iraqi government in Baghdad.

Gazprom Neft will take 40 percent of the Garmian block, putting it on a parity footing with Canadian operator WesternZagros, and 80 percent of the Shakal block. The regional government of the semi-autonomous region will keep 20 percent in both.

Gazprom Neft estimated the blocks contained potential resources of about 3.6 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

It already has a project in Iraq, near the Iranian border, where it expects to produce about 15,000 barrels per day from 2013.

"Based on our positive experience in cooperation with the Republic of Iraq, where we are already participating in the development of Badra field, the company had decided to expand its presence in this country," Gazprom Neft First Deputy Chief Executive Vadim Yakovlev said in a statement.

"Carrying out these projects will allow Gazprom Neft to increase its input in Iraq's plans to boost oil production, to gain additional experience in this country and to expand its presence abroad," he added.

[Kurdistano]

Do you want to bet Shahristani will not put Gasprom in his "Blacklist". Since Gasprom is a Russian company and Malikis masters in Iran will not open their mouth.

[alan131210]

Do you want to bet Shahristani will not put Gasprom in his "Blacklist". Since Gasprom is a Russian company and Malikis masters in Iran will not open their mouth.

agreed. it is time milky and shahristani make 'iraq' a province of iran.

[alan131210]

(Reuters) - semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan plans to halt oil exports on August 31 if the central government does not make all outstanding payments, which could mean the proposed increase in Iraq's overall shipments to world markets will be brief.

Kurdistan said on Wednesday it would restart exports this week in a bid to end the payments dispute with Baghdad. The Kurdistan Regional Government says the central government has withheld payment of $1.5 billion.

Natural Resources Minister Ashti Hawrami made the statement giving the end-August deadline in a letter posted on the KRG's website and addressed to oil companies DNO, Genel Energy and Kar Group.

"What I have in mind is to restart the oil export for only one month, i.e. for all of the August period," Hawrami wrote in the letter, dated July 28.

"If the payments are not released by the end of this period, then we agree to halt all the export at the midnight of 31st August."

Genel Chief Executive Tony Hayward said in a letter to Hawrami the company had not been paid for the majority of oil exported in 2009 and 2011. "This has had a very significant impact on our operations," the letter said.

The KRG statement on Wednesday said exports would remain at 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) for a month and if payments were forthcoming, could move swiftly up to 200,000 bpd.

PAYMENTS BACKLOG

Under Iraq's budget, the KRG is to supply 175,000 bpd of crude for export, but the KRG halted the trade in early April, saying Baghdad owed it a backlog of payments.

The central government is required to route 50 percent of the KRG's export earnings to Kurdistan to cover producing companies' previous costs. Baghdad issued two payments in 2011, totaling $514 million; the KRG said it is owed $1.5 billion.

Crude produced in Kurdistan is fed into Iraq's Kirkuk export stream and sold onto world markets via the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. The KRG export halt had cut Kirkuk shipments by a quarter to below 300,000 bpd.

Iraq is boosting oil sales from its southern ports following an increase in export capacity earlier this year. Adding another 100,000 bpd to northern exports would bring Iraq's overall shipments to around 2.6 million bpd, a postwar record.

Iraq's oil dispute with Kurdistan has escalated after Baghdad threatened to cancel a contract with France's Total for signing Kurdish deals and a unit of Russia's Gazprom also entered the autonomous area.

Total and Gazprom followed U.S. majors Exxon and Chevron in signing oil accords with Kurdistan.

[alan131210]

shaytan

this is for you

After Saddam Hussein's overthrow in 2003, oil companies from around the world rushed in for the right to both rework old, debilitated fields, and to drill new ones. But Baghdad has exacted tight-fisted terms, signing only low-paying service contracts that effectively turn high-risk, high-return wildcatters into mere hired hands. Until recently, the world's oil companies have bristled at the terms, but gone along in hopes of conventional production sharing agreements down the road. Now, the grumbling in the ranks is growing to a roar.

A fourth-round auction of oil properties in May showed both that Baghdad seems to have no intention of greater generosity -- and also that the companies are fed up. Just three of 12 blocks on offer found successful takers.

In October, ordinarily ultraconservative Exxon uncharacteristically signaled the first sign of upheaval by signing an exploration deal with Kurdistan despite having an agreement to produce oil at Iraq's West Qurna field. That seemed quite a gamble: West Qurna, after all, holds some 8.7 billion barrels of oil, and there was a distinct possibility that Baghdad would revoke the deal as punishment for Exxon's opening to the Kurds. Now, Total's decision -- the purchase of a 35 percent stake in two exploration blocks in Kurdistan -- makes what had been a gingerly tip-toeing toward the KRG look more like a headlong rush. Total did not respond to an email requesting comment.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2 ... _a_country

[alan131210]

Kurdistan has from from small oil companies to 4 supermajors, that is something we all can be proud of, yes the deals are oil company friendly but that is what you get with no access to sea. it might all change with WK border now close to the Mediterranean sea, we can take the pipelines all the way to Efrin then stuck a deal with Syria bypassing turkey's line.

[sheytanElKebir]

alan.

7 of the top 10 IOCs and oil service companies in the world operate in Iraq. why are you even discussing this, the biggest one has a 50/50 joint venture with the Iraqi Drilling Company and run most of the new oil exploration work on behalf of the IOCs! namely schlumberger...

http://oilfield.gnsolidscontrol.com/wor ... nies-list/

all the other "big boys" are also working in Iraq (bakerhughes, weatherford etc...) these are the companies who do the actual ground work.

anyway, 4 out of 12 blocks went so far... and a 5th one may be announced soon. Its all good... the media were pooh poohing the Iraqi auctions saying that none would be taken, the conditions were too onerous etc... but 4 got caught... and in the next round the remaining 8 will be reauctioned or the Iraqi Drilling Company and Schlumberger joint venture will do the exploration work themselves... plenty of options open to Iraq and plenty of time to complete them. You shouldn't worry about us, we'll be fine