9 March 2005 Almost two years after the US-led war ousted the Baath regime, Iraq is still struggling to meet prewar production levels at its dilapidated oil fields. Iraq’s southern oil fields, which accounted for the majority of prewar production of 2.8 million barrels per day, are currently managing just 1.85 million b/d — and even this rate is causing great distress to reservoirs, Iraq’s interim Oil Minister Thamer al-Ghadban…
Author: Ruba Husari
IOF Editor
Firms Line Up to Give Iraq Free Services
14 April 2005 The pending appointment of a new government in Iraq — the third since September 2003 — appears unlikely to open the doors to large investments by international oil companies, although the drawing up of a constitution later this year may take them one step closer. But that’s not deterring firms from getting a foot in the door, with some 29 companies signing memorandums of understanding (MOU) with…
Chalabi Named Acting Oil Minister in Iraq
29 April 2005 Three months after Iraqis voted in national elections, the first Shiite-led government in Iraq’s modern history has won the support of the elected National Assembly. However, protracted negotiations among political factions and differences within the biggest Shiite bloc mean that the positions of two deputy premiers and five ministers, including the oil portfolio, have yet to be filled. In a sign of the difficult horse-trading since the…
Bahr Al-Uloum Poised For Iraq Oil Job
6 May 2005 Former Iraqi oil minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum is set to make a comeback as the next oil minister, barring any last-minute hitches, after beating Ahmad Chalabi, the deputy prime minister and acting oil minister, as the candidate backed by a Shiite party. The Shiite Al-Fadhila Party, considered close to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, was allocated the oil job in the ethnic carve-up of portfolios in Iraq’s new…