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 contracts might be challenged by a future government if it’s not led by the same party that legalized them?

A: I expect any new government that will formed in the coming months to accept the signed contracts and continue with their implementation. I don’t think there is any risk there related to…

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1st bid round . 2nd bid round . cash flow . decline rate . elections . exports . garraf . gas . Haditha . Halfaya . INOC . IOCs . K3 . Kirkuk . KRG . Kurdistan . LNG . Main Pay . Majnoon . Midland Oil Co . Mishrif . MOC . NOC . oil and gas law . oil ministry . parliament . peak oil . pipelines . plateau . production . PSA . ratification . recovery rates . refineries . remuneration . results . Rumaila . service contracts . Shahristani . Shura council . SOC . Somo . Syria . terminals . thamir al-Ghadhban . Turkey . West Qurna . western desert . Zubair The Interview

The Four Sisters

After initially announcing three weeks ago that he was setting up Thi Qar Oil Co. in the Nassiriya province, Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani seems to have got better advice since, and is now set on creating the Midland Oil Co. to be in charge of the central oil and gas fields. Thi Qar division within SOC will remain in charge of the fields in the province, mainly Nassiriya and Garraf. The new decision makes more sense than the previous one especially as North Oil Co. (NOC) and South Oil Co. (SOC) are now overburdened with extensive responsibilities with the 10 contracts awarded to international oil companies in last year’s two bid rounds.

The new company would mirror the old Midland…

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2nd bid round . Ahdab . Akkas . Al-Shahristani . Badra . East Baghdad . garraf . Gazprom . INOC . Kogas . Midland Oil Co . MOC . Nassiriya . NOC . oil ministry . Petronas . SOC . Thi Qar . TPAO The View from Baghdad

The State Partners

Iraq’s oil ministry did well in choosing different companies to represent the state stake in the consortia awarded contracts to develop oil fields. Unlike the old days when the state oil marketing organization (Somo) was considered the de-facto state partner, including in five oil deals signed before the 2003 toppling of the previous regime (two production sharing contracts with CNPC and Lukoil and three exploration contracts with PetroVietnam, ONGC and Pertamina), different representatives now sit on the management committees of each field as holders of the 25% government share in each consortium.

Somo was the state partner on the BP-led consortia that signed the Rumaila deal. Missan Oil Co (MOC) represents the state on the consortia developing the Majnoon and Zubair…

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1st bid round . 2nd bid round . Badra . consortium . contracts . garraf . Gharraf . Halfaya . IDC . IOEC . JMC . Majnoon . MOC . Najmah . NOC . oil ministry . Qayarah . Rumaila . SOC . Somo . state partner . West Qurna . Zubair The View from Baghdad

Final Tasks

The formal signing Sunday of the final agreement for the development of the Majnoon oil field in southern Iraq by Royal Dutch Shell and its Malaysian partner Petronas, set the ball rolling for a series of signatures this week and next. By the end of January, all contracts awarded in the first and second bid rounds will become effective and operators will start the actual work on the ground. Southern Iraq, where most of the 10 oil fields awarded to foreign companies are located, will become a big construction site.

Most of the burden in organizing and managing the work on the ground lies with South Oil Co (SOC) which is currently in charge of six of the 10 oil fields.…

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1st bid round . 2nd bid round . Badra . development plans . Gharraf . Halfaya . JMC . Majnoon . MOC . Najmah . NOC . oil ministry . Petronas . production plans . Qayarah . Rumaila . Shahristani . Shell . signing . SOC . Thi Qar Oil Co . West Qurna . Zubair The View from Baghdad