Laith Al-Shaher

Laith Al-Shaher is the Director General of the legal department at the Iraqi oil ministry and one of the main negotiators of the South Gas Project with Royal/Dutch Shell and Mitsubishi. In a first for an oil ministry official, he spells out the main features of the deal in an interview with IOF editor Ruba Husari in Baghdad, as well as the nature of Basrah Gas Co, the first gas joint venture…

Wikileaks: Bid Rounds & Contracts

AFTER INITIALING OIL CONTRACTS, IRAQ DEMANDS CHANGES OIL MINISTER TO CHANGE SIGNING BONUSES FOR 2009 FIRST BID ROUND CONTRACTS CHEVRON ON IOC INVESTING IN IRAQ RUMAILA OIL-FIELD LAWSUIT CONTINUES BUT SUCCESS UNLIKELY FORMER OIL MINISTER AND COR CANDIDATE WEIGHS IN ON DE-BA’ATHIFICATION, OIL, AND EDUCATION BASRA: LOCAL DISSATISFACTION GROWS IN FINAL RUN-UP TO FIRST OIL BID ROUND IRAQ’S OIL BID ROUND 2: U.S. FIRMS’ PARTICIPATION IRAQ’S FIRST OIL BID ROUND…

Budget 2011: Who Gets What

The Iraqi 2011 federal budget voted by parliament today includes two items that are related to payments to oil companies. It stipulates a payment of $1.75 billion as participation in the production cost of oil exported including under contracts of international oil companies signed with the Kurdistan region. The second item is an allocation of $2.73 billion for investment projects of international oil companies. The budget assumes the export of…