21 September 2005 Iraq is unlikely to see any major change in its current 2.2 million barrels per day of production capacity or in the paralysis of its northern export route until late 2006 or early 2007 at the earliest, according to former Oil Minister Thamer al-Ghadban. Upstream progress will only come with the implementation of recently awarded contracts and others under consideration, he told International Oil Daily Tuesday on…
Tag: drilling
Iraqi Firm Forges Ahead With Drilling Plan Despite Potential War
27 February 2003 Unfazed by the current US military buildup and the potential risk to rigs from air raids or invading forces, Iraq’s Oil Drilling Co. (ODC) is forging ahead with drilling across the country’s oil fields in an attempt to beat its record of last year. But separate activities by foreign drillers under the UN’s oil-for-food program have been hit by the threat of war, with international companies either…
Drilling Dilemma
Oil production in Iraqi oil fields in the south of the country is falling by an average of 7% per year. The problem: a high water cut that is forcing South Oil Co. (SOC) engineers to shut down wells one after the other. But as they lose the old wells in West Qurna, Rumaila, Zubair, Majnoon and Nahr Bin Umar, the drilling of new ones to replace them is not…
Iraq-India: Special Friends
15 December 2000 A deal reached with India last month could set the ball rolling for a new type of arrangement between Baghdad and “friendly countries.” In return for the award of an exploration contract in the western desert, India could trade wheat and rice for Iraqi oil outside the UN oil-for-food program, Iraqi sources say. New Delhi is now talking to the UN about applying for a sanctions waiver,…