5 March 2008 The Iraqi cabinet has given the oil ministry the go-ahead to sign technical support contracts to develop five producing fields with five of the world’s top oil firms, Iraqi sources told International Oil Daily Tuesday. The companies — BP, Chevron with partner Total, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell — have now been invited to a new round of talks in Amman, Jordan, starting on Mar. 14….
Author: Ruba Husari
IOF Editor
Minnows Complain as Majors Meet on Iraq
18 January 2008 Iraq’s launch last week of a prequalification process for international oil companies ahead of a tender for undeveloped fields has drawn fire from smaller firms, which say the criteria and requirements set by the oil ministry exclude them from the competition and favor their bigger brethren, especially the majors. Oil ministry sources said the prequalification process is designed to determine “which companies could be called on to…
Iraq Punishes Oil Firms With KRG Deals
16 January 2008 Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani has followed up on threats to punish companies that sign deals with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) by canceling the memoranda of understanding (MOU) some had inked with his ministry, a ministry source told International Oil Daily from Baghdad Tuesday. This is the first concrete step toward depriving them of any future deals with Baghdad. Al-Shahristani had persistently told companies that Baghdad…
Sunnis, Shiites Ink Fragile Pact Against Kurds
15 January 2008 Sunni, Shiite and independent lawmakers came together in Baghdad Sunday to sign a pact that, for the first time, issued a collective Sunni-Shiite demand for central control over oil resources and criticized the Kurds for their go-it-alone stance in signing oil deals. Signatories to the statement of common understanding included the political wing of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, the secular Iraqi National List of former Prime…