Basrah – The Rumaila oil fields, North and South, are getting their biggest face lift in a long time and at a rate which will see the fields doubling their output within three years to some 2 million barrels per day. At a joint management committee (JMC) meeting last week, the second so far since the Rumaila service contract won by BP and CNPC in June 2009 became effective Dec….
Category: The View from Baghdad
The weekly article from Baghdad
Iraq Votes
The polls are closed and it wasn’t the carnage some were expecting it to be. True, it is quite disturbing to wake up to the sound of mortars on elections day. But that’s not surprising, this is Baghdad after all. Bottom line, Iraq has voted for the second full-term parliament since 2003 despite the threats, the intimidations, the chaos, the interference, and the “de-baathification” saga by the “not so” independent…
Race Against Time
Since the Rumaila service contract entered into effect on Dec.17, BP and the Rumaila operating division of SOC have not been wasting any time. They held the first joint management committee meeting on Jan.20, decided on a $1.7 billion budget for 2010, and launched the first tenders for drilling and supply contracts. The target is to add between 150,000-200,000 b/d by December 2010 and rehabilitate the gas oil separation facilities…
The Four Sisters
After initially announcing three weeks ago that he was setting up Thi Qar Oil Co. in the Nassiriya province, Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani seems to have got better advice since, and is now set on creating the Midland Oil Co. to be in charge of the central oil and gas fields. Thi Qar division within SOC will remain in charge of the fields in the province, mainly Nassiriya and…