The first day of Iraq’s oil ministry’s fourth bid round confirmed what many people, including those who worked on the model technical service contract, had expected: conducting exploration and development on the terms offered under these contracts is going to be a hard sale. Kuwait Energy with its partners, Turkey’s TPAO and UAE’s Dragon Oil, was willing to play by what’s on the table to secure Block 9 because it…
Month: May 2012
The Challenge of Producing Joint Fields
The issue of producing shared or joint fields that straddle borders between Iraq and its neighbors is not new. It’s actually several decades old. The first example was the case of Naft Khana and Naft Shah oil fields, the names are for the parts of a single anticlinal structure extending across the border between Iraq and Iran. Many other examples are present such as the Dahlaran-North Abu Ghirab and Fauqa…
Unitization Dilemma
As Iraq and Kuwait forge ahead with their political rapprochement and the demarcation of their international boundaries, a major milestone will be achieved once an agreement is reached on the joint oil fields that straddle the border between the two states. That’s where Iraq needs all its resources to settle the issue in a manner that preserves its sovereignty and safeguards its interests in a way that does not lead…
What Prospects for Iraq’s Oil?
If oil and politics are closely intertwined, this is certainly exemplified by the era of Middle East concession acquisition exploration and development, and more so in Iraq than anywhere else. The concession agreements were negotiated between the powers of the day, and enforced on the embryonic governments of the time. Production plans and policies were based on the consuming powers’ needs, with little consideration given to the concessionaires The concession era…