Early Bonanza

There is a bonanza for international oil companies who managed to make an early entry into Iraq. Operators like BP, Eni, Exxon Mobil – and to a certain extent CNPC which managed to convert its 1997 production sharing agreement for the development of Al-Ahdab field into a service contract last year – will have first call on the limited infrastructure capacity to absorb the new crude they will start pumping…

Mr. Five Percent

I was privileged two years ago to be invited, as an observer, to attend a roundtable in Paris where about 30 Iraqis from inside and outside of Iraq, with experience in government and the oil sector, convened over three days to discuss in a candid and open manner how to define an oil policy for Iraq. To my surprise – and the shock of everyone else in the room –…