19 July 2004 Iraq’s interim government has taken its first step toward institutionalizing oil policy in Iraq by establishing the first supreme council for oil and gas. “We don’t want oil policy to be in the hands of one person but it’s a matter for the whole nation represented by the prime minister and other members of the cabinet,” Thamer al-Ghadban, Iraq’s interim oil minister, told International Oil Daily from…
Year: 2009
Iraq Field Study Attracts Strong Interest
17 August 2004 Despite its deteriorating security situation and unstable future, Iraq managed to attract a strong turnout for a contract to conduct reservoir and engineering studies at its largest two oil fields, Kirkuk and Rumaila. Some 14 bids were submitted from companies in Europe, North America and Australia, a senior Iraqi official said Monday. Iraq in June invited more than 30 companies to participate in the tender, which would…
Iraqi Reservoir Damage May Be Long-Lasting
28 September 2004 Iraq’s leading oil field, Kirkuk, may have suffered irreparable damage to its reservoir as a result of the reinjection of fuel oil, refinery residue and gas-stripped oil over the last 15 years, according to Iraqi industry sources. The reinjected products amount to some 1.5 billion barrels, according to one estimate. The process, which was widespread under the former regime of Saddam Hussein, is still continuing, as Iraq…
Iraqi Plan for Radical Oil Reform Runs Into Controversy
30 September 2004 Iraq’s interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has taken the unusual step of suggesting that the Iraqi government disengage from running the oil sector, including management of the planned Iraq National Oil Co. (INOC), and that INOC be partly privatized in the future. Although a formal oil policy is desperately needed in Iraq, the proposals have provoked controversy, given their submission ahead of elections scheduled for January, which…