29 September 2006 It will be 2008, at the earliest, before Iraq’s southern provinces unite to form the giant oil-rich federal region that some Iraqi groups are calling for. That’s the deal reached this week by Shiite and Sunni lawmakers which, for now at least, averts further ethnic and religious strife over a Shiite-backed law outlining the mechanisms whereby Iraq’s provinces can form autonomous regions. But the arrangement, brokered by…
Month: April 2009
Iraq Starts Countdown for Contract Awards
14 October 2008 Iraq’s oil ministry on Monday launched a competition among 35 international oil companies for six of Iraq’s most prized oil fields and two undeveloped gas fields under 20-year service contracts, which Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani said he expects to be “finalized and presented to the Iraqi cabinet for ratification before the end of June.” Prequalified companies for Iraq’s first bid round, including all the majors as…
BP Wants Stability, Oil, Contract Laws, Before Entering Iraq
23 March 2007 UK supermajor BP is staying away from Iraq’s northern Kurdish region, to avoid antagonizing the central government in Baghdad. However, despite the Iraqi government’s recent approval of a draft hydrocarbon law, BP will not venture into the country until there is a rule of law and it can be sure that contracts signed with the existing authorities would survive political change, a senior company executive said. “Every…
Iraq Buys Favor With China on Al-Ahdab
27 March 2007 The Iraqi government decided to renegotiate an old production sharing contract which had been signed by China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) to develop the 90,000 barrel per day Al-Ahdab oil field with the former Iraqi regime “for political and legal reasons” rather than retender, a senior Iraqi government official told International Oil Daily late last week. CNPC officials traveled to Baghdad earlier this month for a first…