Two Years On, Iraq Output Still Struggling

9 March 2005 Almost two years after the US-led war ousted the Baath regime, Iraq is still struggling to meet prewar production levels at its dilapidated oil fields. Iraq’s southern oil fields, which accounted for the majority of prewar production of 2.8 million barrels per day, are currently managing just 1.85 million b/d — and even this rate is causing great distress to reservoirs, Iraq’s interim Oil Minister Thamer al-Ghadban…

Iraq Vote Carries Seeds For Oil Conflict

14 October 2005 Iraqis are set to vote Saturday on a new draft constitution intended to usher in a new era, which should see the country edge closer toward the establishment of state institutions and adoption of new laws, including in the oil sector. However, all this will do little to unite a divided country — and it could even instigate new conflict over the distribution of oil wealth, analysts…

Iraq’s New Oil Manager Spells Out Plans

6 May 2003 The new chief executive of the Iraqi oil sector, Thamer al-Ghadban, issued instructions to his staff Sunday to draw up an accelerated plan setting oil production targets for an interim period of several months. In an interview with International Oil Daily, the first since the Saturday announcement of his appointment by the US-led Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) as chief executive of the interim management…