2nd Bid Round Results

In response to Mr. I Chalabi’s comments, with all due respect I disagree with his remarks for the following reasons: There is certainly warranted rush to award all the fields included in both rounds, and more to come; a wider perspective on the role of oil in Iraq’s future is being lost. After years of misrule and total bad management coupled with the effects of sanctions, and the post-2003 violence,…

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….

The Results

If you are trying to figure out who won and who lost in Iraq’s first bid round, consider this: 22 companies have participated in the licensing round making offers for six oil fields and one gas field, as leaders or members of consortia. One gas field, Mansuriya had no takers. China’s CNPC was the most aggressive taking part in 5 offerings followed by Malaysia’s Petronas which targeted 4. Oil majors…

Exxon, Conoco Both Score Firsts in Baghdad

13 August 2008 US majors are adopting a more aggressive approach toward Iraq. Jim Mulva, chief executive of ConocoPhillips, this month became the highest-ranking US company executive to visit the country since the war, while Exxon Mobil has submitted the first one-year no-fee technical support contract (TSC) to the oil ministry, Iraqi sources said Tuesday. A Conoco spokeswoman in Houston confirmed the visit, Mulva’s first to Iraq. “As customary in…