Iraq-India: Special Friends

15 December 2000

A deal reached with India last month could set the ball rolling for a new type of arrangement between Baghdad and “friendly countries.” In return for the award of an exploration contract in the western desert, India could trade wheat and rice for Iraqi oil outside the UN oil-for-food program, Iraqi sources say.

New Delhi is now talking to the UN about applying for a sanctions waiver, to compensate for the damage the embargo has wrought on its economy, sources in Baghdad tell Energy Compass. Under Article 50 of the UN Charter, states “confronted with special economic problems arising from the carrying out of enforcement measures have the right to consult the Security Council with regard to a solution…

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Abu Khema . Al-Ahdab . Amer Rashid . Block 8 . cost recovery . cross-border smuggling . crude deal . drilling . embargo . exploration . India . Lukoil . Majnoon . Mina al-Bakr . oil revenues . ONGC . PSA . Ram Naik . remuneration . reserves . Security council . seismic . Syria . Taha Yassin Ramadan . Turkey . UN sanctions 2000

Iraq-Opec: Charm Offensive

11 February 2000

Iraq’s decade of non-participation in Opec may be coming to an end. The pariah state – which plans to produce 6 million barrels per day within 10 years of United Nations sanctions against it being lifted – has indicated that it intends to reassert itself as a fully functioning member of the organization.

Iraq’s approach is two-pronged. It wants an Iraqi official installed in high office in the group, and has suggested that it will be willing to submit to output-restraint disciplines. However, Iraq’s proposals carry the potential for mischief, and are unlikely to be embraced, for now, by the organization’s most influential members.

At the last Opec meeting Baghdad nominated its former representative to the UN, Abdul Amir al-Anbari,…

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Al-Anbari . al-Attiyah . al-Herbish . capacity . gulf war . Iran . Kazempour Ardebili . Lukman . Opec . Opec secretary general . production . quota . Saudi . UN 2000

Iraq Kicks Off Buyback Contract Negotiations

25 February 2000

Iraq has finally started negotiations on its first modified buyback agreements, offering contracts with an average term of 12-15 years to a number of Asian companies – including Malaysia’s Petronas, which is discussing a deal for the 200,000 b/d Ratawi field.

Iraq believes buyback contracts may prove easier to implement than production-sharing contracts (PSCs) once United Nations sanctions prohibiting investment are lifted. “We want something we can really implement and we think the old type of contracts [PSCs] are more complicated in the present circumstances,” says an Iraqi industry source.

However, the key determinant of the buybacks’ success will be their attractiveness to foreign oil companies. At first glance, the contract periods appear competitive, though Iraqi officials warn that they…

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Bin Umar . BP . buyback . capex . field development . Lukoil . Majnoon . negotiations . Petronas . production sharing . PSC . Ratawi . risk . Somo . Sonatrach . state equity . Total . UN sanctions . western desert 2000

Not-So-Blind Eye

21 April 2000

For years, Iran turned a blind eye as Iraq smuggled thousands of barrels of oil a day across the Iranian part of the Shatt al-Arab waterway into the Gulf. No longer. A combination of factors, including Tehran’s very understandable desire to protect its own interests, has prompted a well-publicized clampdown on the illegal trade, leading Tehran to seize 10 vessels in one 24-hour period two weeks ago.

Iran’s decision to end its collaboration in the smuggling – for now, at least – was taken at the highest levels. Sources in Tehran tell Energy Compass that it came from the Supreme National Security Council, headed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Some suspect it may be connected to the internal upheavals…

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albright . ali shamkhani . GCC . Iraq-Iran . Khamenei . Khatami . oil exports . oil smuggling . prince nayef . Rafsanjani . Saddam Hussein . security . Shatt al-Arab . Somo 2000