If you are trying to figure out who won and who lost in Iraq’s first bid round, consider this: 22 companies have participated in the licensing round making offers for six oil fields and one gas field, as leaders or members of consortia. One gas field, Mansuriya had no takers. China’s CNPC was the most aggressive taking part in 5 offerings followed by Malaysia’s Petronas which targeted 4. Oil majors…
Category: The View from Baghdad
The weekly article from Baghdad
Trickling Production
Things are happening at Nassiriya oil field in southern Iraq. The field, which accounts for some 4.3 billion barrels of oil reserves, has become the latest oil field to start production in recent days, albeit at a moderate pilot rate of 20,000 b/d. Nassiriya was discovered by Iraq National Oil Co (INOC) in 1975 and remained undeveloped for more than three decades after the drilling of the first exploration well…
Critical Choices
It took the Iraqi oil ministry eight months to negotiate technical support contracts (TSCs) with major oil companies for five oil fields before they were cancelled at the last minute in June 2008. Those TSCs could have offered Iraq the first significant foreign help in rehabilitating its producing oil fields in at least three decades. True, they were no-bid contracts but the commitment on the side of the state and…
Chinese Mishap
China’s CNPC and its partners in Waha Co have started work on Al Ahdab oilfield near the town of Kut with the wrong foot. Lorrying their seismic survey rigs through farmers’ lands, destroying their wheat crop at a time when Iraq is importing wheat and when the agricultural sector is struggling for survival, is hardly a well-thought act. Destitute farmers have only their crops as a source of living. No…