Mana’a Al-Obeidi

In an interview in his office in Kirkuk (North Iraq) late August, Manaa al-Obeidi, director general of North Oil Co (NOC) talks to Ruba Husari, editor of Iraq Oil Forum, about the state of the northern oil fields and NOC plans: Q: What is the state of the producing fields in northern Iraq? A: We have witnessed a relative increase in output from producing fields in the last 18 months….

At Iraq’s Big Kirkuk Field, Oil Flows but Damage Still a Problem

2 May 2003 Crude oil production from Iraq’s northern Kirkuk oil complex has been ramped up to 60,000 barrels per day this week and is likely to rise to at least 130,000 b/d once the first crude oil unit at the Baiji refinery becomes operational again, an official of North Oil Co. (NOC) said Thursday. “We started initial production at 20,000 b/d on Apr. 24 and are currently producing 60,000…

Oil Assessment Work Gets Going in North Iraq

2 May 2003 A team from US Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) on Thursday started assessment work at Iraq’s northern oil fields, as part of a contract the company holds with the US military, a KBR official told International Oil Daily on the scene. “We are looking at various units and assessing oil and gas production facilities in coordination with [Iraq’s] North Oil Co. (NOC) management,” Rick Hopper,…

Iraqi Officials Take Initiative Restarting Oil

23 April 2003 The first Iraqi oil production since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime is set to restart next week from the northern Kirkuk complex, but would be limited to supplying the domestic market in terms of crude for refineries and natural gas for power stations, according to a senior Iraqi official. The plans show Iraqi officials taking the initiative on this and other aspects of the war-damaged oil…