Pipelines Politics

Is Iraq’s foreign policy at the regional and international levels dictated by its position as an oil producer and exporter or is Iraq managing its resources in function of what its alliances and relationships allows it to do? Judging by the past, oil has mostly been a victim of the politics of the regime. This does not only apply to the last one, but goes back as far as the…

Abdul Mahdi Al-Ameedi

Abdul Mahdi al-Ameedi, director general of Iraq’s oil ministry’s Petroleum Contracts & Licensing Dept. (PCLD), sheds light on the ministry’s fourth bid round scheduled for May30-31, and the service contract on offer, its advantages and shortcomings, in an interview with IOF editor Ruba Husari in Baghdad. (للنص العربي اضغط هنا) Q: Offering a service contract type with a fixed fee for oil and gas exploration work is unusual and almost…

Al-Fao’s New Facelift

Basrah- State Co for Oil Projects (SCOP) is forging ahead with the reconstruction of the Al-Fao crude oil tank farm to bring it back to its old glory of the 1970’s. It was in 1976, just as Iraq nationalized its oil industry, that construction of the 16-tank complex was completed in order to cater for the big increase in oil production and export capacity that Iraq seemed destined for at…