Laith Al-Shaher

Laith Al-Shaher is the Director General of the legal department at the Iraqi oil ministry and one of the main negotiators of the South Gas Project with Royal/Dutch Shell and Mitsubishi. In a first for an oil ministry official, he spells out the main features of the deal in an interview with IOF editor Ruba Husari in Baghdad, as well as the nature of Basrah Gas Co, the first gas joint venture…

Shell Official in Baghdad for Gas Talks

13 June 2008 A top-ranking Royal Dutch Shell official is in Baghdad this week to discuss a heads of agreement to establish a joint venture to invest in Iraq’s gas sector and process associated gas from southern fields for domestic and export markets, an Iraqi oil source told International Oil Daily Thursday. The talks, the first held in the Iraqi capital by a senior international oil company executive since 2003,…

Iraq Turns Spotlight on Natural Gas Projects as Shortages Bite

20 March 2008 The Iraqi oil ministry is tendering a contract to build a pipeline linking the Akkas gas field in northwest Iraq to the Syrian border with the aim of starting exports to Syria within a year of contract award, a senior Iraqi official said Wednesday. Akkas was discovered in the late 1990s, and six wells were drilled there by a Syrian contractor before the US-led invasion in 2003….

Shell Pursues Natural Gas Deal With Iraq

6 March 2008 Royal Dutch Shell has submitted a proposal to the Iraqi oil ministry to produce about 500 million cubic feet per day of gas from major southern oil fields where most associated gas is now flared, Iraqi and industry sources told International Oil Daily this week. The proposal is independent of the two-year technical support contract Shell is negotiating with the ministry to boost output by 100,000 barrels…