9 September 2008 The Iraqi cabinet on Sunday approved a preliminary gas deal between Royal Dutch and South Gas Co. (SGC), giving the green light for detailed negotiations on a final deal expected next year, Iraqi and industry sources said. The deal is a nonbinding heads of agreement (HOA) to establish a joint venture to gather and process associated gas now being flared from Basrah region oil fields in the…
Author: Ruba Husari
IOF Editor
China, Iraq Offer Concessions to Seal Oil Deal
29 August 2008 China National Petroleum Corp.’s (CNPC) new 20-year service contract to develop Iraq’s Al-Ahdab oil field — the first oil deal signed since Saddam Hussein’s overthrow in 2003 — preserves some of the choicer elements of its 1997 production sharing agreement (PSA). But both sides offered concessions in a bid to bring the negotiations launched last year to a conclusion, Iraqi sources involved in the talks told International…
Exxon, Conoco Both Score Firsts in Baghdad
13 August 2008 US majors are adopting a more aggressive approach toward Iraq. Jim Mulva, chief executive of ConocoPhillips, this month became the highest-ranking US company executive to visit the country since the war, while Exxon Mobil has submitted the first one-year no-fee technical support contract (TSC) to the oil ministry, Iraqi sources said Tuesday. A Conoco spokeswoman in Houston confirmed the visit, Mulva’s first to Iraq. “As customary in…
Iraqi Drilling Firm Gets a Makeover
23 July 2008 State Iraq Drilling Co. (IDC), one of 14 oil firms under oil ministry supervision, is setting up a joint venture with UK-based Mesopotamia Petroleum Co. (MPC) to carry out drilling services in Iraq, Iraqi officials told International Oil Daily in Baghdad last week. IDC is meanwhile upgrading its rig fleet, buying 19 new rigs that should start arriving in September, the officials said. Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani…