Head Named for New Oil Firm in Southern Iraq

11 September 2008 Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani has named Ali Muarij, a petroleum engineer from southern Iraq, director-general of Missan Oil Co. (MOC), the first regional operating company to be set up since Iraq National Oil Co. was dismantled in 1987, Iraqi sources told International Oil Daily from Baghdad Wednesday. The cabinet in June approved the creation of MOC to operate all oil fields in Missan province in southern…

Iraq Focuses On Pilot Projects To Counter Big Field Declines

8 July 2005 Iraq’s South Oil Co. (SOC) is launching a handful of pilot production projects at oil fields in southern Iraq, in an attempt to compensate for declines at its large producing fields, according to local industry sources. The big-field problems have been exacerbated by a lack of funds for drilling new wells and working over existing wells, as well as delays in implementing water injection projects. The major…

Iraqi Firm Forges Ahead With Drilling Plan Despite Potential War

27 February 2003 Unfazed by the current US military buildup and the potential risk to rigs from air raids or invading forces, Iraq’s Oil Drilling Co. (ODC) is forging ahead with drilling across the country’s oil fields in an attempt to beat its record of last year. But separate activities by foreign drillers under the UN’s oil-for-food program have been hit by the threat of war, with international companies either…