Kurdistan Oil & Gas Development

[alan131210]

Good for u , Still we have they biggest boys in kurdistan which you used to say on SSC it will never happen

[sheytanElKebir]

Good for u , Still we have they biggest boys in kurdistan which you used to say on SSC it will never happen

Who can say no to the deals you gave them?

[hevalo27]

Good for u , Still we have they biggest boys in kurdistan which you used to say on SSC it will never happen

Who can say no to the deals you gave them?

they will do everything to save their deals. thats the logic behind it.
in the end kurdistan gives up some of his oil-money, but wins peace, more wealth, and stronger self-rule.

what happens in bagdhad?
100 of billions disappear in the corrupt arabic assholes.
no food, no residence, no education, no electricity and civil war.

our kurdish leaders care more about kurdistan and the kurds, not like milki shit-boy for weapons to arm 10 armys.

iraq is pathethic state. lol
a pure shithole. sorry sheytan

[crazyhorse]

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

The Americans don't care about Arab oil. The infrastructure and deals in Kurdistan are much better and more attractive for them than with the Arabs in the South. They'll eventually make more money in Kurdistan, since there are at least 50 billion barrels of the 140 billion of Iraq's total. And the 50 billions is without the minimum of 15 billion barrels located in the disputed Area's such as Kirkuk + a lot of oil is not discovered yet, while the Arab part of Iraq is allready searched for almost completely.

+ We have other natural resources, like gas.

[alan131210]

Good for u , Still we have they biggest boys in kurdistan which you used to say on SSC it will never happen

Who can say no to the deals you gave them?

We had to outsmart your gov's chauvinism , what Kurdistan does with it's oil is 100% constitutional so why try to block it? Under what law or constitution ? Oh yes thats right LOL you love saddam's oil law which gives you central rule , eh hypocrisy at its best , I thought you Shias hated anything baathist ?? Apparently not those that are anti Kurdistan .

Your gov dirty plans did not work and to bypass it we had offer more attractive deals to get the supermajors in , so only blame your Shia led gov for this not the Kurds , don't act like we are wasting our resources and your gov is smart its bcoz of the chauvinist policies of your Shia led gov we offer more attractive deals, we hold Iraqi gov responsible in the first place for this, we are making lesser money compared to baghdad out of our deals bcoz of dirty actions of the Shia led gov in Baghdad,

The era of undermining and controlling Kurds is over but your gov doesn't think so directed by orders from Iran who fears it's own kurdistan region to gain similar power of KRG's.

Let me ask you , why are you even here? I thought you were here bcoz you were interested in peshmerga weapons only?

Or are you here to spread your agenda so that the kids on SSC can cheer you up!!!

[alan131210]

[brendar]

(Reuters) - Iraqi Kurdistan's crude oil is plentiful and easy to get at, rare among undeveloped energy resources. The man managing it, a former North Sea engineer and consultant turned politician, knows how to attract investment.


But the companies working there under contracts with the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) are not getting much out, and they are not getting paid, all because of a dispute over control with the national government in Baghdad.


Despite the row, rooted deep in the tinderbox politics of Iraq, ever bigger oil companies are moving into the northern region, angering Baghdad with their seal of corporate approval for a government that is seeking more autonomy in one of the most volatile parts of the world.

Something has to give.

"The northward migration continues," said a senior oil executive involved in Iraq. "And this could well be the tipping point."

Output in this mountainous region bordering Turkey, Syria and Iran is an on-off trickle for now in global terms but, given the right investment and an export route, it could reach 1 million barrels per day by 2014, and 2 million five years later, according to Ashti Hawrami, the KRG natural resources minister.

That would be more than Libya, the North African producer whose civil war outage led to a sharp jump in prices last year.

Hawrami worked in Scotland for the British National Oil Company in the 1970s and early 1980s. He later ran an oil services firm, then moved into consulting before becoming a KRG minister in 2006.

Oil men admire his commercial savvy. They say he understands that companies have a simple need for returns that justify investments, in stark contrast to suspicious governments they deal with elsewhere in the Middle East.

"The difference is that they want us here while in the south of Iraq, it feels like they don't," said one oil executive.

The sticking point for KRG development is that Baghdad has jurisdiction over all exports, and contests the validity of contracts signed with the Kurdish government in Arbil.

It tries to keep the region on a tight leash, limiting supplies of fuel and restricting its flow of cash under an entitlement based on 17 percent of the country's oil export income.

There is much friction, claim and counter-claim over the arrangements, and in its most recent act of protest, the KRG halted oil exports in April, saying Baghdad owed $1.5 billion.

In 2002 Turkish company Genel Enerji blazed an exploration trail to the region. Norwegian company DNO and others followed after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Now more than 40 foreign companies are drilling in oil territory so rich that in some places the crude seeps out of the hillside and collects in the valley below.

Proven reserves in Iraqi Kurdistan of 45 billion barrels amount to more than a third of the national total of 143 billion recorded in BP's annual statistical review, where Iraq accounts for 8.7 percent of all the world's known oil.

EXXON GAME-CHANGER

In 2007 Hawrami came within a whisker of making Royal Dutch Shell his first really big signing, but the board of the world industry number two ruled it too risky, an industry source said. Shell later became, and remains, the biggest oil investor in southern Iraq.

Because of the politics and the payback issue, ventures into KRG territory remained the preserve of smaller explorers with an appetite for political risk and nothing to lose in Baghdad.

In November last year, four years after Shell walked away, came the game changer.

Exxon Mobil, the world's biggest private oil company, signed a deal for six exploration blocks.

Last month, the U.S. number-two player Chevron moved in too, buying 80 percent of two blocks, Sarta and Rovi, from India's Reliance.

And last week, Total of France piled in, buying 35 percent of the Harir and Safen blocks from Marathon Oil, along with Gazprom of Russia, which farmed in to the Garmian block operated by Canadian company Western Zagros.

Suddenly, four of the world's top 10 international oil companies by market value have set up shop in Arbil.

Baghdad is furious, and has made it clear that both Exxon and Total are risking their involvement in multi-billion dollar projects in the south of the country.

So what are the big international oil companies thinking?

There is still no obvious way to monetise these investments. Letters last week to the KRG from DNO, Genel and others with activities in Iraqi Kurdistan expressed their continued frustration at not getting paid.

Executives say the move north by the big companies sends a message to Baghdad that its commercial terms on southern oilfield projects are unattractive, and that institutional chaos and the slow pace of postwar redevelopment are problems.

"We understand the political risk of going into the north and the commercial terms are attractive enough to take that risk," said an oil industry source. "The economics of Iraq's service contract just can't compete with the terms on offer in Kurdistan."

More new entrants may be beating a path to Hawrami's door for quality acreage and a safer operating environment as well as a better potential rate of return than the south. KRG production sharing contracts (PSCs) promise as much as 25-35 percent versus the 15 to 18 percent in the south for fixed-fee output-boosting and start-up deals on untested fields, oil experts say.

Total's CEO Christophe de Margerie has been openly critical of Baghdad's service contract terms. The latest national tender for exploration blocks drew no interest from the oil majors.

Norway's Statoil and Italy's Eni are both looking at KRG acreage, say industry sources.

Statoil pulled out of its stake in the giant West Qurna-2 oilfield in southern Iraq earlier this year, while Eni is still leading a project to develop the huge Zubair oilfield in southern Iraq.

Other big companies that still have all their Iraq eggs in the southern basket include Britain's BP, which recently produced its 1 billionth barrel in the southern Rumaila field, Russia's Lukoil, as well as the Chinese and Malaysian state firms CNPC and Petronas.

Shell has stayed loyal to Baghdad too. According to industry sources it decided last year for a second time against a KRG tie-up, turning its back on a partnership with Exxon to focus on a $17 billion gas project and other commitments in the south.

BP said it had plenty to keep it occupied in the south and no plans to look north. Although Shell would not comment, company officials privately have a similar view to that of BP.

But those already on the ground in Kurdistan are likely to build up their positions. Exxon, risking operatorship of West-Qurna-1 with its dalliance in the north, is looking at unawarded blocks along the border with Turkey, and Chevron and Total are expected to snap up more acreage, industry sources said.

BAGHDAD'S BLACKLIST

"It's quite worrying for the Iraqi government to have the big companies walking away," said a senior oil executive who believes Baghdad will take action to deter further defections.

"If the federal government does not act, other companies will think they can move north without further consequences. And they have to do what they say - so far, it's just been a lot of noise.

"And we will, of course, use the situation as an argument to look for more reasonable terms (in southern Iraq)."

Baghdad has protested at the highest political level about Exxon's floodgate-opening move, with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki writing to U.S. President Barack Obama predicting dire consequences for the country's stability.

It has also threatened to throw out Exxon and Total and blacklist Chevron from future involvement. All to no avail - so far.

"I don't think Exxon can hang onto and work both pieces and they will be forced to choose very soon," said a senior western executive, adding that he expected chief executive Rex Tillerson, if pushed, to opt for Kurdistan.

In the latest twist, Arbil has responded to Baghdad's sabre rattling with an apparent softening of its position, agreeing to resume exports until August 31 provided it gets the money it says it is owed.

The oil concessions dispute between Maliki and KRG president Masoud Barzani forms part of a deeper political rift in Iraq, whose wobbly coalition of Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish leaders are embroiled in their second serious squabble since the last U.S. troops left in December.

TURKISH QUESTION

With their potential to produce immense wealth for whoever controls them, reserves in Kurdistan also play into the broader balance of power and ethnic tensions in the region.

When it comes to exports, a fully independent Iraqi Kurdistan could in theory avoid Iraq territory altogether by sending its crude through Turkey.

In May, the KRG announced plans to build a pipeline from the Taq Taq oilfield to hook up with an existing one that runs from Kirkuk in Iraq to Ceyhan on Turkey's Mediterranean coast, targeting August 2013 as the completion date and initial capacity of 1 million barrels a day.

But there's a snag here too for the KRG and its investors, and one that could strengthen Maliki's hand.

Turkey's prime minister Tayyip Erdogan performs one of the world's trickiest political balancing acts.

Having turned his back last September on his one-time friend, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, and embraced the rebels fighting him, Erdogan has made an enemy along his longest border.

Iran, which backs Assad, is another potentially unfriendly neighbour. Meanwhile Turkey, like Syria, has a restless Kurdish population of its own.

So Erdogan may be reluctant to upset Baghdad, and a Kurdish state flush with oil money on his frontier might not be the perfect outcome for him either.

"The one thing in Baghdad's favour right now is that the Kurds don't have an independent export line," said Raad Alkadiri of Washington consultancy PFC Energy.

"So a lot of this will come down to the Baghdad-Arbil-Ankara triangle, and given developments in the region, including Syria, how this relationship plays out could surprise the Kurds and investors there."

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/08/0 ... 2G20120805

[alan131210]

since i am banned on ssc i will reply to shaytans post here

no, that's the Iraqi pipeline through turkey. The Kurds would have to build their pipeline through another route... I know they just want to connect their pipe to the Iraqi main pipe but Iraq is not going to agree to that... you realise that Iraq owns the entire pipeline all the way to Cheyhan right?

Which means that the Kurdish independent pipeline project would take many many more years to actually accomplish... that's of course after the Turks agree to it to be constructed which hasn't happened yet AFAIK.

all this means is delays, delays, delays while Iraqis have to sit and be constantly insulted whilst paying out billions to a "country" that hates them with a passion... why on earth should we stand for that?

i dont think shaytan is quite yet understood of what is going on.

the kurds are NOT building any new pipeline routes lol,, they are connecting all pipeline thru the kirkuk-cheyhan going thru Fishkhabur , these are kurdish areas and are controlled by kurdish peshmerga as well as its our only border point to WK so it has 2 important means for us which we will never give up upon no matter what, i know that is what iraqi army tried to do but as we can see iraq failed and iraqis will never ever step foot into these areas and when we declare independence Fishkabur will be included in our state all the way to Zumar and Sinjar where the iraqi army is stopped by our brave boys.

IRAQ has to start building new pipelines maybe thru a new Sunni led syrian gov or thru Jordan, good luck , otherwise we will charge iraq hefty fees for using our soil.

we can see here the new pipeline will be connected to existing one going to turkey at Fishkhabur, we can just simply cut iraq-turkey oil route from where it enters kurdish territories in Ninevah if w think its wise which is the main reason iraq wanted to occupy these territories but as you all saw they failed .

[hevalo27]

you realise that Iraq owns the entire pipeline all the way to Cheyhan right?

no longer, iraqis dont earn. iraq had stolen kurdish oil for centuries and built this pipeline with kurdish money.
since it goes trough kurdish area we will controle it after independence.

you iraqis will pay a lot of money for using it or kurdistan will stop oil transporting with ceyhan pipeline.

[alan131210]

it will be wise not to halt oil flow thru our soil but we will charge iraq a hefty fee for it

[alan131210]

Tony Hayward, the former chief executive officer at BP Plc (BP/), is now loading a fleet of as many as 500 trucks a day while he waits for a new pipeline to carry oil from his fields in KRG.

Since joining Genel Energy Plc (GENL) last year, Hayward has pushed the semi-autonomous Kurds to finish building a link to neighboring Turkey so he can find buyers outside the local market. Kurdish contractor Kar Group said it has completed 23 percent of the first 48-mile (77-kilometer) section of the line north to the border, though Turkey hasn’t said publicly it will take the oil.

bloomberg

so far so good, 23% of independence pipeline has been completed , by Aug 2013 it is to be totally completed which i see it complete as scheduled.

[alan131210]

credit goes to sinjar.

it seems KRG is only building pipeline branches to connect to an abandoned pipeline since the 1991 sanctions that is going from Kirkuk to Ceyhan port called (46 pipeline). iraq is currently using the 40 pipeline but the turkish resource minister was in Erbil last time negotiating the restoration of this old abandoned pipeline to which the newly built branches will be connected to ...

iraq-turkey and new kurdistan pipeline deal
According to Hawrami, total KRG production capacity is now close to 300,000 b/d, while domestic consumption in Kurdish territories is about 100,000 b/d. The KRG can theoretically exceed the 175,000 b/d average that Iraq’s 2011 export agreement planned for if these estimates are correct. Also in May, officials confirmed plans to renovate and return to service a 46” pipeline connecting Kirkuk to Ceyhan on the Turkish coast.

A 40” pipeline connecting Kirkuk to Ceyhan is already active but the 46” pipeline, which the Kurds want to restore, has been shut down since 1990, when Iraqi crude exports were temporarily halted following Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait. Hawrami insists the KRG still wants to export under SOMO’s direction if revenue-sharing is restarted. The deal was reached without Baghdad’s consent.

The Turkish pipeline deal will allow the Kurds to export up to one million b/d through the renovated pipeline. But it might also make reconciliation between Erbil and Baghdad harder to achieve. A spokesman for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki insisted on May 22 that any deal would require Baghdad’s approval. It is unclear how the central government would prevent the pipeline from being renovated or oil from being transported once complete.
http://www.mepc.org/iraq-turkey-and-new ... eline-deal

The same route as the 40 pipeline. The 40 and 46 are the Kirkuk-Ciyhan pipeline( it's actually two parallel pipelines).
In the old days Kirkuk produced over 1,5 mill bpd but now the production is only 500k because of the 46 closed.
The branches are built in Ninawa and Dohuk. Here are maps for them:

something sinjar did not know is that, the 46 pipeline goes thru KRG so all KRG needs to do is disconnect the pipeline where it enters KRG territories and build the required infrastructure to push the oil onwards.

[Cewlik]

so far so good, 23% of independence pipeline has been completed , by Aug 2013 it is to be totally completed which i see it complete as scheduled.

Alan, do you know the route from the new indipendent pipeline?

[alan131210]

so far so good, 23% of independence pipeline has been completed , by Aug 2013 it is to be totally completed which i see it complete as scheduled.

Alan, do you know the route from the new indipendent pipeline?

yes look at the pic above its missing the Taq Taq line though. we are building branches to an existing abandoned pipeline called 46 pipeline that goes parallel to the iraqi 40 pipeline of kirkuk-ceyhan.

[alan131210]