BR4: The Lessons

Now that the fourth bid round is wrapped and closed with just one gas exploration block awarded in addition to two oil exploration blocks, it is time for Iraq’s oil ministry to draw lessons from the lackluster bid round and devise new ways to explore the Western Desert, thought to contain much of Iraq’s gas potential. The first lesson to draw is that upstream companies are not service companies, ready…

Anatomy of a Deal

(Mr Asri Mousa was one of the main Iraqi negotiators of the south gas utilization project with Royal Dutch Shell and Mitsubishi Corp between 2008 and 2011) Iraq has been, since 2008, negotiating with Royal Dutch Shell to establish a joint gas company to capture flared gas from three giant oil fields in the province of Basra. The joint venture is based on a proposal by Iraq to create a…