Early Bonanza

There is a bonanza for international oil companies who managed to make an early entry into Iraq. Operators like BP, Eni, Exxon Mobil – and to a certain extent CNPC which managed to convert its 1997 production sharing agreement for the development of Al-Ahdab field into a service contract last year – will have first call on the limited infrastructure capacity to absorb the new crude they will start pumping…

Iraq Finalizes Fields to Be Offered in Bid Round Next Week

26 December 2008 Iraq’s oil ministry decided Wednesday to launch its second postwar bid round for oil and gas field development with 14 oil fields and two gas fields spread over Iraq’s regions, ministry sources said Wednesday. The official announcement will be made by Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani in Baghdad on Dec. 31. Opinions in the ministry are divided over whether Iraq should launch a new bidding round before…

ONGC, Pertamina Renegotiate Iraqi Deals

25 April 2008 India’s state Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) and Indonesia’s Pertamina recently opened talks with Iraq’s oil ministry about renegotiating exploration contracts signed with the Baath regime before the war in 2003, Iraqi officials told International Oil Daily Thursday. The two companies met with Iraqi ministry officials in Amman last week to adapt the deals to the new model contracts — called Service Exploration and Production Contracts…

Kurdish-Iraqi Oil Minister Spat Escalates

1 May 2007 A war of words between Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani and Kurdish Energy Minister Ashti Hawrami over who has the authority to sign contracts with foreign companies, and over the extent of the proposed new Iraqi national oil company’s control over the country’s oil fields, is threatening to derail the draft oil law approved by the Iraqi cabinet in February. Al-Shahristani last week warned foreign companies that…