Oil minister Hussein al-Shahristani says Iraq will become an exporter of refined products within a few years. That’s a very optimistic assessment of the status of the Iraqi refining sector. True, Iraq has four new grass roots refineries with a combined capacity of 740,000 barrel per day offered to private investors. But it still has a long way to go before any investor jumps in and spends billions on building…
Tag: Kirkuk
Thamir Al-Ghadhban
Thamir al-Ghadhban, former Iraqi Minister of Oil and Chairman of the Advisory Commission at the Prime Minister’s office, gives his take on the latest developments in Iraq’s oil sector and analyses future trends in an interview in Baghdad with Ruba Husari. Q: How do you expect a new government following the March 7 legislative elections to deal with the signed contracts? Is there a risk that the legality of those…
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,…
First Bid Round Revisited
Lukoil’s Vagit Alekperov said his company has now changed its mind on West Qurna -1 oil field following a detailed analysis and is now ready to follow in the footsteps of BP/CNPC and sign up to develop the field for a $1.9/bbl remuneration fee, the maximum fee the Iraqi oil ministry was willing to offer oil companies when the first licensing round bids were opened on June 30. Lukoil is…