Iraq intends to buy the largest share of "Oxon Mobil" in Basra and confirms its commitment to the decisions of "OPEC"

[yota691]

 

Iraq is discussing with American companies buying Exxon Mobil’s stake in "West Qurna"

 

•  

 2021-04-15 05:25

 

Shafaq News / The Iraqi Ministry of Oil announced on Thursday that it will hold a round of talks with American companies specialized in the field of oil to buy Exxon Mobil’s stake in West Qurna 1 field.

Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar said in a statement singled out by Shafaq News Agency; "The ministry started its discussions with major American companies to choose a company that would get the right to buy Exxon Mobil’s share in West Qurna 1 field."

And ExxonMobil had signed, in January 2010, an agreement with the South Oil Company, one of the companies of the Iraqi Oil Ministry, to rehabilitate and develop the West Qurna-1 field in southern Iraq.

The proven reserves of the field amount to 8.7 billion barrels, and West Qurna is one of the rewarding fields that the major Western oil companies are looking forward to in the face of stagnant or declining production.

[yota691]

Iraqi Oil Company is discussing with American companies the purchase of Exxon Mobil’s stake in West Qurna field

Iraqi Ministry of Oil

 April 15, 2021 12:51 PM

Mubasher: The Iraqi Ministry of Oil announced today, Thursday, that it discussed with American companies the purchase of ExxonMobil's share in the West Qurna / 1 field .

The Ministry's media office said, in a statement, according to the Iraqi News Agency, "INA," that the ministry is studying with American companies the possibility of buying Exxon Mobil's share in West Qurna / 1 field in Basra Governorate.

It is noteworthy that the West Qurna field is one of the largest Iraqi oil fields, and it is located in the province of Basra, and production began in it in 1973 and contains a stock of 24 billion barrels. It produces 300,000 barrels per day, and is divided into West Qurna Field / 1 and West Qurna Field / 2.

West Qurna / 1 field is being developed by a consortium that includes ExxonMobil with a share of 60%, the Iraqi National Oil Company of 25%, and Royal Dutch Shell 15%.

Yesterday, Wednesday, Oil Minister Ihssan Abdul-Jabbar Ismail said that Iraq aims to invest 300 million standard cubic feet per day (muqmq) of gas associated with oil operations in the Halfaya field , indicating that the end of 2022 AD will witness the achievement of this goal.

 

[yota691]

Acquisition of Exxon Mobil’s stake in West Qurna

Saturday 17th April 2021 38

 

 Baghdad: Morning 

 

The Iraqi Ministry of Oil started a round of talks with American companies specialized in the field of oil to buy Exxon Mobil’s stake in West Qurna 1 field.

Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar said: The ministry started its discussions with major American companies to choose a company that would get the right to buy ExxonMobil’s share, and ExxonMobil had signed, in January 2010, an agreement with the Southern Oil Company, one of the Iraqi Oil Ministry companies, to rehabilitate and develop the West Field. Qurnah-1 in southern Iraq.

The proven reserves of the field amount to 8.7 billion barrels, and West Qurna is one of the rewarding fields that the largest Western oil companies are looking to in the face of a recession or decline.

 Production.

[yota691]

Exxon offers the Iraq field for sale as the mountain of debt approaches

•  Time: 04/18/2021 21:17:19
•  
•  Read: 754 times

  

{Economist: Al Furat News} ExxonMobil has considered selling its stake in the West Qurna-1 Iraqi oil field, indicating that the major company is ready to give up one of its oil fields in the Middle East to reduce the accumulation of debts accumulated last year.

 

The Iraqi Oil Ministry has taken an unusual step by saying that it is in talks with US companies about the possibility of it buying Exxon's 32.7% stake in the field in southern Iraq near the city of Basra.

Bloomberg News reported last year that Chinese oil giants China National Petroleum Corporation and CNOOC Ltd. were considering buying the stake.

Exxon declined to comment on any possible sale.

West Qurna-1 is one of the sparkling prizes for the oil industry in rebuilding Iraq in the aftermath of the Second Gulf War, as Exxon became the main contractor in 2010. However, strict contractual terms, delay in payment, OPEC production cuts and political instability have weakened its appeal in recent years.

Meanwhile, Covid-19 has had a crushing impact on Exxon's finances, causing its debt to balloon to more than $ 70 billion, lowering its rating twice in less than a year.

Raghad Daham

[yota691]

Iraq seeks to settle the stake of the US company Exxon Mobil in West Qurna

14:21 - 22/04/2021

 

  

The information / translation ... Iraq
seeks to settle the share of the US company Exxon Mobil in the first West Qurna field by the end of next June, even after the American company Chevron Corp., a major competition, rejected the initiatives to buy the position. "The company may open talks with more companies after Exxon submitted a request to sell its 32.7 share of crude oil," BNN Bloomberg reported in a report translated by the agency / Al-Maaloumah / on the authority of the General Director of the Basra Oil Company, which oversees crude oil production in the region, Khaled Hamzah. % Last December, "adding that" the Bank of China has no objection to a Chinese company buying the stake. "

The report added, “The Iraqi Oil Ministry had determined last month that it was in talks with US companies about the possibility of taking over the position of Exxon as an operator, but Bloomberg confirmed that the two Chinese oil giants Petrojina and CN Oussi are considering buying the stake, but such a deal will increase China's influence in this field, given that Petrogina already holds a 32.7% stake in the field.
"We had hoped that Chevron would buy Exxon's share and be the alternative, but it seems that they did not have the desire to be the alternative," said the general manager of the Basra Oil Company, Khaled Hamza, saying, "While a spokesperson for Chevron declined to comment, and a spokesman for ExxonMobil declined to comment." .
ExxonMobil was the main contractor in West Qurna the first in 2010, as the country sought to rebuild its oil industry after the second Gulf War and years of rebellion, but the field's profitability and attractiveness for future investment diminished in recent years due to difficult contractual terms, OPEC production cuts and political instability While one of Exxon's main priorities is to reduce debt after the Corona virus crushed its cash flow last year. End / 25 z

[3n1]

 

Could iraq really become OPECS largest oil producer

 

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Could-Iraq-Really-Become-OPECs-Largest-Oil-Producer.html

[3 bucks new rv rate]

13 hours ago, 3n1 said:

 

Could iraq really become OPECS largest oil producer

 

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Could-Iraq-Really-Become-OPECs-Largest-Oil-Producer.html

Could Iraq Really Become OPEC’s Largest Oil Producer?

By Simon Watkins - Apr 21, 2021, 7:00 PM CDT

Trade Oil Futures Now

Iraq’s Oil Minister, Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar, announced last week that the country plans to increase its oil production capacity to 8 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2029, compared to current production of around 3.8 million bpd that factors in OPEC-mandated cuts.

 

Based on its vast oil resources there is no insurmountable reason why this output level should not be attained by that time or indeed even the 9 million bpd or 11 million bpd that were posited by the International Energy Agency in its 2012 production scenario analysis for Iraq. Even the lower of these two figures would allow Iraq to overtake Saudi Arabia as the number one oil producer in the Middle East, with the Kingdom producing just 8.17 million bpd on average from 1973 to this year. To reach these new output goals, Iraq announced last week initiatives including boosting the production from the key field of Majnoon and the sale of ExxonMobil’s stake in another major field, West Qurna 1. In both cases, though, the real reasons why Iraq has been hamstrung in reaching its oil production potential over decades remain in place and, if not addressed, the country will never reach these targets.

 

 

 

even though saudi arabia ( as the number one oil producer in the middle east )  has produced=8.17 million bpd from 1973 until now, how come and why has the saudi arabian riyals ( SAR ) been relatively stable at 1 usd=3.75 SAR , then 1 SAR= 0.27 usd? is increasing the oil production has anything to do with a currency rate change from one country? do you think the iqd is pegged to the saudi arabia's currency if iraq will become the number one oil producer in the middle east one day? hopefully not.

[yota691]

 

Iraq officially requests the purchase of Exxon's stake in "West Qurna 1"

 

•  

 2021-05-10 13:18

 

Shafaq News / The head of an Iraqi oil company managing West Qurna 1 field, one of the largest Iraqi oil fields, said on Monday that Iraq had formally requested to purchase the share of the American energy giant Exxon Mobil in the field.

 

Iraq said last month that Exxon wanted to sell its 32.7 percent stake in West Qurna 1, and that the Oil Ministry had begun discussions about a possible deal.

 

"The decision was reached, and we officially sent a letter to Exxon Mobil to buy its stake," said Khalid Hamzah, director of the Basra Oil Company, adding that the ministries of oil and finance will work on the procedures for securing the financing.

 

He explained that Exxon wants to sell the stake for $ 350 million, according to Reuters.

 

The sale implies a shift in plans for Exxon, which in 2019 appeared to go ahead with a $ 53 billion project to increase Iraqi oil production.

 

Hamzah said that after purchasing the stake, the Basra Oil Company will coordinate with other partners working in the field to ensure smooth operations.

 

Other foreign shareholders in West Qurna 1 are Petro China with a stake of 32.7 percent, Japan's Itochu with a 19.6 percent stake, and Indonesian Pertamina with a ten percent stake.

 

The Iraqi government-run Oil Exploration Company owns the remaining five percent.

 

Iraq is the second largest producer in OPEC, and oil contributes at least 95 percent of its income.

 

The collapse in demand and oil prices due to the Covid-19 pandemic severely affected Iraq last year.

 

But the market is recovering, which is what led the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies to agree to increase production slightly from May 1.

 

Hamzah said that Iraq approved the investment budgets for the year 2021 submitted by foreign oil companies to develop Basra fields in the south of the country, which are managed by the Basra Company, with an estimated value of seven billion dollars.

 

In order to increase revenues, he said, Iraq intends to increase production of light crude by 100,000 barrels per day to reach 1.1 million barrels per day.

 

He added that oil exports have averaged 2.85 million barrels per day since the beginning of May, down from 2.9 million barrels per day in April.

[yota691]

The "Exxon Mobil" deal ... a new Iraqi approach to managing the oil file

l 16 hours ago

Baghdad - Sky News Arabia

•  
•  
•  
•  

 

There is a new approach by the Al-Kazemi government in managing the oil sector

Iraq is negotiating with the US company, ExxonMobil, to buy its stake in West Qurna (1) field in Basra Governorate, while oil experts say that this path will strengthen the Iraqi government's control over the national fields and reflect positively on the oil file.

On Tuesday, Iraqi Oil Minister Ihssan Abdul-Jabbar announced that his ministry is seeking to buy Exxon Mobil’s share in the field, but he pointed out “the importance of maintaining the partnership in oil work through the presence of the national and foreign operator in the same field to be a more positive factor because of its reflection of the value of technology transfer. And the development of production and training of cadres. "

An informed source in the capital , Baghdad , says, "There is a new approach by the Al-Kazemi government in managing the oil sector to ensure the optimal exploitation of these resources, as offers are to be submitted to several other companies to buy their share in the Iraqi fields."

The source, who requested anonymity, added to "Sky News Arabia" that "the ongoing negotiations with Exxon Mobil have made tangible progress in the initial talks, but there is competition from other companies that want to buy the stake as well, and this depends on Iraq's approval ."

Exxon's share in the Iraqi field, located in the south of the country, is 32.7%, as it has recoverable reserves of more than 20 billion barrels, according to data from specialized agencies.

Oil experts say that contractual terms, delayed payments to oil companies, and production cuts by OPEC have contributed to the company’s consideration of selling its stake, in addition to the weak political stability in the country.

Iraqi cadres are capable

The expert in the oil field, Hamza Al-Jawahiri, confirms, "The Iraqi cadres are currently able to manage the field, as they worked with the American company, during the past ten years, which means the absence of risks regarding management, especially since these foreign companies have not introduced modern technology in a way." "It is clear about the oil file in the country, as Iraq desires to do so."

Al-Jawahiri added during his interview with "Sky News Arabia" that "these companies found the profits that they make from Iraqi oil, much less than their ambition, as they used to obtain percentages of oil, all over the world, but in Iraq they get small wages per barrel." .

According to Bloomberg, the two Chinese oil giants, the China National Petroleum Corporation and CNOOC Ltd., are considering buying the stake, which may impede the deal between Iraq and the American company.

Assistant General Manager of the Basra Company wishing to buy ExxonMobil’s stake, Hassan Muhammad, said, “The company is facing a challenge in the process of completing the deal due to the presence of foreign companies owning stakes in the field that may refuse our company’s offer to buy the stake from Exxon Mobil,” without indicating the nationality of those companies.

And Iraq conducted several rounds of licenses, with foreign companies, as these companies operate the fields under service contracts that include (technical services, development and production services, exploration and production development services, and gas development and production services ).

Under the service contracts, the International Oil Company becomes a "contractor" for one of the five national extractive oil companies: ( Basra  Oil, North Oil, Middle Oil, Maysan Oil and Dhi Qar Oil).

And recently, the deputy in Parliament, Ahmed Al-Kinani, announced the parliament’s intention to open the file of licensing rounds contracts.

The deputy asked in a press statement: "Why does the Ministry of Oil and even the government refuse to send details of the oil licensing rounds expenditures, and be satisfied with mentioning the number of debts owed by Iraq only?", Indicating that "Iraq's debts to these companies amount to about 20 billion dollars."

Ambiguity and astonishment

The expert and researcher in economic affairs, Abdul-Rahman Al-Mashhadani, said that "Iraq's contracts with oil companies are service contracts, and Iraq did not sell those fields to international companies, in order to return to buying them again, except that there are conditions in the contracts that are unknown, as they did not." Those contracts are published so far, and this raises the question of whether Iraq sold oil fields to these companies.

Al-Mashhadani believes in a statement to "Sky News Arabia" that "this approach puts question marks. Companies that do not want to continue their work in developing the fields must withdraw, according to the laws, because they do not have anything in the contents of those fields."

He pointed out that "there should be great transparency in this matter, on the part of oil officials."

An Iraqi oil official, authorized to say, refused to talk about the matter, and said only: "The matter is under discussion, and we do not want to anticipate matters, as long as the final decision is not decided in favor of the Basra Company ."

[yota691]

After the decision to withdraw from Iraq .. Vice President of Exxon Mobil in Baghdad

 

Oil field

energy Economy News - Baghdad Exxon Mobil announced its desire to increase the volume of bilateral energy cooperation with Iraq, although it decided to exit Iraq by selling its share in West Qurna 1 field. The Ministry of Oil said in a press release, seen by "Al-Iktissad News", that Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar met today, Monday, the First Vice President of Exxon Mobil. The Minister of Oil, Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar Ismail, confirmed that Iraq seeks to provide new investment opportunities in the gas and clean energy sectors . Ismail added, "Iraq seeks to provide new investment opportunities in the gas and clean energy sectors, and it is now one of the ministry's priorities, expressing his hope that the current and future stage will witness more implementation of such projects that enhance the sustainable development opportunities for Iraq." The First Vice President of Exxon Mobil expressed his hope "to increase the volume of bilateral cooperation in many areas, including the energy and infrastructure sector." The press release issued by the Ministry of Oil did not mention any details about the sale of Exxon Mobil’s share, especially in light of the Chinese’s desire to buy the stake. The Minister of Oil, Ihssan Abdul-Jabbar, said in a press conference held on May 3, 2021, that the ministry is considering the acquisition of Basra oil “Exxon's share in West Qurna 1 and the leadership of the project, as happened with Majnoon.” Iraq said last month that Exxon Mobil wanted to sell 32.7 percent of the West Qurna 1 field, and that the Oil Ministry had begun discussions with US oil companies about a possible deal .

Number of observations 390,   date of addition 05/31/2021

[yota691]

Oil Minister, Exxon Mobil: Iraq seeks to provide investment opportunities in the gas and clean energy sectors

•  Time: 05/31/2021 18:00:11
•  
•  Read: 1,950 times

  

{Economical: Al Furat News} The Minister of Oil, Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar Ismail, confirmed, on Monday, the ministry's keenness to strengthen cooperation relations with sober international companies, including Exxon Mobil.

 

According to the ministry's statement, the Euphrates News received a copy of it, "The Minister of Oil, during his meeting with the First Vice President of Exxon Mobil, Tom Schuessler, explained that Iraq sought to provide new investment opportunities in the gas and clean energy sectors, and it is now one of the ministry's priorities."
While the Minister of Oil expressed his "hope that the current and future stage will witness more implementation of such projects that enhance the opportunities for sustainable development in Iraq."
Schuessler also expressed his "hope for an increase in the volume of bilateral cooperation in many fields, including the energy and infrastructure sector."
Wafa Al-Fatlawi

[yota691]

Oil Minister: Iraq seeks to provide investment opportunities in the gas and clean energy sectors

Iraqi Oil Minister

 May 31, 2021 6:22 PM

Riyadh - Mubasher: Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar Ismail confirmed today, Monday, that Iraq is seeking to provide new investment opportunities in the gas and clean energy sectors.

According to the Ministry of Oil's media office statement, the minister received the First Vice President of ExxonMobil, and stressed during the meeting keenness to strengthen cooperation relations with sober international companies, including ExxonMobil.

Tom Schuessler, Senior Vice President of ExxonMobil, expressed his "hope for an increase in the volume of bilateral cooperation in many areas, including the energy and infrastructure sector."

[yota691]

Oil Minister: Russian investments in Iraq are estimated at billions of dollars

Economie| 10:42 - 04/06/2021

 

 

 

 

Baghdad - Mawazine News
, Minister of Oil, Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar, spoke about the investments of Russian companies in the Iraqi oil sector, noting that the investments of the Russian "Lukoil" company in Iraq are estimated at billions of dollars.
On the sidelines of his participation in the Petersburg Economic Forum, the Iraqi Oil Minister said that "the history of cooperation with Russian companies dates back to the 1970s."
He pointed out that "Russian oil companies have carried out several major projects in Iraq, which is still produced to this day, and the Russian companies involved in this day in many of the major energy projects in Iraq, a member country of the Organization of " OPEC ".
And companies The Russian, which is active in the Iraqi oil sector, indicated that "Gazprom Neft", "Lukoil" and "Rosneft", and said that "Lukoil" is a major investor in the "West Qurna-2" field.
He pointed out that "Lukoil's investments in Iraq are estimated at billions of dollars," noting that "it is expected that oil production from the "West Qurna-2" field will reach one million barrels per day next October."
He added, "The share of Russian investments in the Iraqi oil industry is at a large level," stressing that "Baghdad provides great support to Russian companies operating in Iraq." Ended 29/A43

[coorslite21]

 

Russia Expands Its Influence In Major Iraqi Oil Fields

By Simon Watkins - Jun 08, 2021, 2:00 PM CDT

Given the U.S.’s broad scaling-down of its on-the-ground operations in the Middle East over the past five years, a specific function of which is ExxonMobil’s intention to sell its stake in Iraq’s supergiant West Qurna 1 oil field, China and Russia have been busy in occupying the spaces left by the U.S., as OilPrice.com has been highlighting since the process began. Just a few days ago, Washington appeared finally to have caught up to what has been going on, with the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Dana Stroul, saying: “It’s… clear that certain countries and partners would want to hedge and test what more they might be able to get from the United States by testing the waters of deeper cooperation with the Chinese or the Russians, particularly in the security and military space.”

 

This could have been aimed equally at any and all of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Oman, Qatar, or any of the other countries that OilPrice.com has highlighted as drifting into the Sino-Russian-Iranian sphere of influence. That said, such words from Washington will have absolutely no effect on either China’s or Russia’s continued drive to entirely push the U.S. out of the Middle East, with Russia last week announcing further oil field plans in Iraq as part of that process.

 

 Russia has long regarded Iraq – both north and south – just as Iran does: that is, as being an integral part of Iran, to all intents and purposes controlled where it counts by Tehran via its vast network of financial, political, and military proxies. Even before China took former U.S. President Donald Trump’s statements about scaling down the U.S.’s military operations across the Middle East in order not to become involved in anymore “endless wars” in the region as a green light to dramatically expand its influence there, Russia had been doing this for years.

 

The turning point in terms of direct on-the-ground action was the civil war in Syria that began in 2011 and which afforded Russia the ideal opportunity to grab a key Mediterranean-coasted country. With Syria under its control, Russia could build out massive strategic military bases, vouchsafe Iran’s decades-long attempts to secure a land bridge to Damascus, and use this to pivot its influence back across the existing Shia Crescent of countries most susceptible to Iran’s radical Islamic message. Once Iran was in Russia’s debt, the Kremlin was quick to ensure that Tehran applied pressure on Iraq to allow Moscow to effectively gain complete control over the huge oil and gas assets in Iraq’s northern semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan. Russia achieved this in 2017 via the Kremlin’s corporate oil proxy, Rosneft, through three principal maneuvers.

 

First, Russia provided the KRG with US$1.5 billion in financing through a three to five-year prepayment oil supply deal. Second, it took an 80 percent working interest in five potentially major oil blocks in the Kurdistan region together with corollary investment and technical, technology, and equipment assistance.

 

And third, it established 60 percent ownership of the vital KRG oil pipeline into southern Europe’s port of Ceyhan in Turkey by dint of a commitment to invest US$1.8 billion to increase its capacity to one million barrels per day. This influence was then expanded with later deals in the gas sector involving the Kremlin’s corporate gas proxy, Gazprom, and various of its subsidiaries. It is apposite to note that China used exactly this same Russian strategy to dramatically expand its own influence in Iraq in parallel with Moscow. 

With its control over northern Iraq’s oil and gas sectors achieved, Russia has been focusing more on expanding its footprint in the south of the country.

 

With the U.S.’s ExxonMobil looking to exit West Qurna-1, the Kremlin is looking to Lukoil to ramp up production from sister field West Qurna-2, so putting Russia (and its Middle East strategic partner, China) in an even stronger position to consolidate their power over all of Iraq’s oil and gas fields and also over the future of the Common Seawater Supply Project, which is vital to Iraq’s long-term future. As it stands, West Qurna 2, with roughly 14 billion barrels of reserves in place, has been steadily producing for some time around 400,000 barrels per day (bpd), or about 9 percent of Iraq’s total oil production. Lukoil holds a 75 percent stake in the field, located 65 kilometers northwest of the southern port of Basra, with the remainder held by Iraq’s state-run North Oil Company. The original development plan for the field remains largely in place, which involved a Phase 2 increase in production to 480,000 bpd, followed by the implementation of Phase 3, which would focus on the deeper Yamama formation, to add another 650,000 bpd to the total. This would have brought the total crude production figure from West Qurna 2 up to 1.13 million bpd, which would not have been far off the original target of 1.2 million bpd. The current plan is for Lukoil to increase production from the Yamama formation to at least 350,000 bpd, while improving production from elsewhere in the field, to a total of at least 800,000 bpd. “The figures may look high but they are perfectly reasonable, justified both by U.S. geologists when they were on the ground during the U.S. occupation and by various IOCs [international oil companies] as well,” a senior oil and gas industry source who works closely with Iraq’s Oil Ministry told OilPrice.com. 

 

Not only are these output targets reasonable but as long ago as November 2017, Iraq’s Oil Ministry found out that Lukoil had already achieved 650,000 bpd production over various extended periods in the previous two months and also that it could sustain production of at least 635,000 barrels per day for the foreseeable future.

 

Lukoil, it turned out, was simply choosing not to do so for financial reasons. “At that point, the [Iraq] Oil Ministry agreed to extend the timeframe of the Lukoil contract to 25-30 years, effectively reducing the daily cost of capital per barrel of oil recovered and to allow Lukoil the option of increasing its stake from the present 75 percent to 80 percent,” the Iraq source said. “In return, Lukoil agreed to invest an extra US$1.4 billion in the short-term and a further US$3.6 billion down the line, depending on variables including OPEC quotas, Iran export levels, and the continued development of export capacity in the south,” he added. In reality, then, the plan is for Lukoil not only to achieve the second phase production target of a further 350,000 bpd from the Yamama formation but also to outstrip it quickly, the Iraq source underlined. At the same time, Lukoil has also been granted favorable terms to allow it to finally push output increases aggressively at the nascent Eridu field, in which the Russian company has a 60 percent stake. Discovered in 2019, and part of Iraq’s Block 10, preliminary estimates suggest that Eridu could hold between 7 and 10 billion barrels of reserves, although Russian oil industry sources spoken to by OilPrice.com last week suggest the actual figure may well be 50 percent higher than the higher figure of the band. 

 

By Simon Watkins for Oilprice.com

 

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

 

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Russia Expands Its Influence In Major Iraqi Oil Fields | OilPrice.com
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Russia-Expands-Its-Influence-In-Major-Iraqi-Oil-Fields.html

 

 

[horsesoldier]

Russia is highly adept when it comes to going long haul....bribery really helps too. 

[3n1]

44 minutes ago, horsesoldier said:

Russia is highly adept when it comes to going long haul....bribery really helps too. 

 

Im sure the " Big Guy " will just build his pal Vladimir another pipeline 

[horsesoldier]

1 hour ago, 3n1 said:

 

Im sure the " Big Guy " will just build his pal Vladimir another pipeline 

No doubt huh 

[yota691]

The Minister of Oil confirms the ministry's keenness to increase investment opportunities for international companies in Iraq

political| 10:48 - 09/06/2021

 

 

 

 

Baghdad - Mawazine News
, Minister of Oil, Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar Ismail, stressed the role of American companies in developing the oil industry in Iraq.
A statement of the Ministry of Oil, a copy of which was received by Mawazine News, stated that "Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar Ismail received the US Ambassador to Iraq Matthew Tueller, and during the meeting, prospects for cooperation in the field of oil and energy were discussed."
Ismail said, according to the statement, that "the ministry is keen to increase investment opportunities for international companies in Iraq, especially in the oil, gas and clean energy sectors in order to enhance and support the national economy," stressing the role of American companies in developing the oil industry in Iraq, especially ExxonMobil, Chevron, Honeywell and others. . "
for his part, the US ambassador, expressed his country 's desire to enhance cooperation and companies to participate in investment projects in the oil and energy sector . 29/87 a

[yota691]

 

Iraq sends more security forces to its oil fields in the south

 

•  

 2021-06-11 07:31

 

Shafaq News/ The commander of Basra operations, Major General Ali Abdul-Hussein Al-Majidi, announced on Friday sending security forces, in addition to all the oil fields in the province, in order to enhance security in those fields.

This came during his meeting with the advanced cadres of the Exxon Mobil Oil Company in the West Qurna 1 field, during a meeting held at the company’s headquarters, which included representatives of the Basra Oil Company, the company, the two commanders and officers charged with protecting the field, according to a statement issued by the Operations Command today.

The statement quoted Al-Majidi as saying: The leadership has taken several security measures to facilitate the work of the oil companies, and we will strengthen the security presence and send additional forces to all oil fields and installations.

The Operations Commander sent a message of reassurance to all the oil companies operating within the sector of responsibility and Exxon Mobil in particular, saying: The security situation in the governorate is good and is not affected by any side effects from the security aspect, and we are fully aware of the security file as the Operations Commander, and there is no need for concern and fear.

He pointed out that all Iraqis, and the people of Basra in particular, are aware that the oil fields are the first resource and form the backbone of the Iraqi economy, and that all vital facilities, including the oil fields, are protected by the people of the province.

[yota691]

The Iraqi Oil Minister witnesses the signing of a contract to drill 96 wells in the West Qurna/1 . field

Part of the contract signing in the presence of the Minister of Oil

 June 17, 2021 05:32 PM

Mubasher: The Iraqi Oil Minister, Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar Ismail, sponsored, today, Thursday, a signing ceremony for a contract to drill 96 wells in the West Qurna field/1 between the Basra Oil Company and the contractor for the West Qurna field/1, ExxonMobil on the one hand, and Schlumberger International on the one hand.

During his sponsorship of the contract signing ceremony, the minister stressed, according to a statement by the Ministry of Oil, the ministry's keenness to maintain and increase production in West Qurna/1 field, in line with and consistent with the ministry's plans.

Ismail said that this contract will add 200,000 barrels to the production of West Qurna/1 field within 5 years, indicating that this field is one of the promising giant fields.

The minister added that the project will provide 600 jobs for the people of the areas surrounding the field and the people of the governorate, explaining that he instructed the field management to follow standards of justice and efficiency in selecting applicants for the required jobs.

For his part, the Undersecretary for Extraction Affairs, Karim Hattab, said that the current production rate of the West Qurna field is 380,000 barrels per day, and the available capacity of the field is more than 500,000 barrels per day, and the gas production invested from the field is 150 million standard cubic feet.

The representative of Schlumberger, Saad Al-Damen, praised the ministry's cooperation with international companies, stressing the company's readiness to implement its commitments in the field according to the latest advanced technology in the field of drilling, in addition to providing training and development opportunities for the national effort.

[yota691]

By China and Russia

 

"Oil Price": A mass exodus of international oil companies from Iraq... The stated reasons are not real

•  06-22-2021, 17:49
•  
•  Economie
•  
•  1227

 

Baghdad - IQ  
 

A report by the " Oil Price " website  , which specializes in global oil and energy news, shed light on what it described as a "mass exodus" of international oil companies from Iraq.

In a recent report, seen by IQ News , the site investigated the  "real reasons" for leaving the American "ExxonMobil" companies, and then the British "BP", and before them the giant "Shell" company, to work in the Iraqi oil fields, saying that the official announced reasons For this withdrawal "is not real."

Oil Price says that corruption is part of the reasons, but the “strongest factor” behind the announcement of the giant “BP” company, its intention to withdraw from Iraq, last week, despite owning 47.6 percent of the Rumaila field, is “China and Russia control over Almost everything is worth owning in the oil and gas sector in Iraq and working to gain strength over all the rest."

The website indicates that the Chinese state oil company has a stake in the Rumaila oil field in Basra of 46.4 percent, while the Iraqi Oil Marketing Company "SOMO" owns only 6 percent, without knowing anything about the mechanism for dividing the new share, after the announcement of "BP" known as " the BP ", its intention to withdraw.

And "Oil Price" quotes former Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, who previously held the position of Minister of Oil for varying periods, that Iraq paid more than 14 billion dinars in cash compensation to international oil companies, from the beginning of 2011 until the end of 2014.

The website indicates that there is a clause in the contracts that prevents the announcement of these compensations, saying that "the packages of dollars that Iraq paid in compensation can extend from the Earth to the moon by six times."

The following is the text of the "Oil Price" report, as seen by  IQ News :

(more than $14 billion) from the beginning of 2011 until the end of 2014 as cash “compensation” payments to international oil companies. To put this in kind of understandable perspective: If that amount were put into dollar bills from one end to the other, it would stretch from Earth to the Moon nearly six times as much.

The news last week that British oil giant BP was working on a plan to split its operations in the giant Rumaila oil field in Iraq into a stand-alone company had a very familiar episode about this for those who had been in the oil markets work for a while. It was exceptionally reminiscent of the withdrawal of the giant Anglo-Dutch oil company, Royal Dutch Shell (Shell), from the giant Majnoon oil field in Iraq in 2017 and also its withdrawal from the giant West Qurna 1 oil field in Iraq in 2018.

Each of these announcements also bears striking resemblance to the recent announcement by the  US major ExxonMobil (Exxon ) that it also wanted to exit West Qurna 1 and withdraw from the Joint Sea Water Supply Project ( CSSP ) in Iraq some time ago. Below are the answers to the reason for this mass exodus of Western companies from Iraq.

 The real answers have nothing to do with the official reasons given at the time for these companies' withdrawal from Iraq, as the already savvy readers of OilPrice.com might have interpreted  them. In the case of Shell, the official reason for its withdrawal from both Majnoon and West Qurna 1 was that these moves were in line with its comprehensive plan to restructure its global business, following its acquisition of BG Group  , which includes a $30 billion asset disposal program.

The reason given by BP's various sources  for creating a completely independent entity operating in Iraq - 'fence' is another word for it - is that it would allow  BP more flexibility to invest in low-carbon energy by enabling it to reduce its spending on oil and gas. 

ExxonMobil, for its part, has long since given up the trouble of giving any official reason for not wanting to do business with Iraq.

Is the reason why so many IOCs are leaving Iraq is the rampant corruption that permeates any sector of Iraq where there is money, as OilPrice.com has consistently highlighted  ? This is partly because, with little change in the overall corrupt strata of business and political dealings in the country that has been marked by the well-respected independent international NGO, Transparency International ( TI ) in many of its Corruption Perceptions Index publications, in which Iraq appears Typically in the worst 10 out of 180 countries in terms of the scale and scope of corruption.

Transparency International states that "massive embezzlement, procurement fraud, money laundering, oil smuggling and pervasive bureaucratic bribery have led the country to the bottom of international corruption ratings, fueled political violence and impeded effective state building and service delivery." The report concludes that "political interference in anti-corruption bodies, politicization of corruption issues, weak civil society, insecurity, lack of resources, and incomplete legal provisions severely limit the government's ability to efficiently curb rising corruption." 

Astonishingly, even the Iraqi Oil Minister in 2015 (and later Prime Minister) - Adel Abdul Mahdi - stated that Iraq "lost US$14,448,146,000" (more than $14 billion) from the beginning of 2011 until the end of 2014 as cash "compensation" payments to international oil companies.

To put this in kind of understandable perspective: if that sum were put into dollar bills from one end to the other, it would stretch from Earth to the Moon nearly six times as much.

In many cases, these payments to Western IOCs were concealed by the Iraqi authorities under a key clause related to Article 12.5 of the Iraq Long-Term Standard Service Contract ( LTSC ). 

This confirmed that compensation related to lower levels of oil production was permissible for three reasons: first, in order to reduce the waste of associated gas; secondly, for any failure by oil and gas tankers to receive net production at the point of transfer through no fault of the contractor or operator; and/or thirdly as a result of the government's imposition of such a reduction.

 In turn, according to Article 12.5, compensation payments can be made in three ways: a revised field production schedule, an extension of the contract term, and/or actual cash payments to IOCs.

However, as explained at the time by Ahmed Musa Jiyad, a former chief economist at the Iraq National Oil Company and now an independent development consultant, from the basis of the standard LTSC contracts  , there were two additional components included in the $14 billion - in addition to income lost during Only three years. First, overproduction above the base product line, and second, the "net" wage fee. 

There is a lot of hypothetical and highly personalized math involved in these calculations, but suffice it to say that based on baseline production, minus a normalized rate of decline of 5% per year and then bonus contracts for the 10 domains covered by the  awarded LTSCs . In the first round of bidding he would have given a simple average of $2.50 per barrel. But in practice, the weighted average wage fee was around $1.90 per barrel, leaving $0.60 per barrel unaccounted for.

"What this means for the various Western oil companies was a two-pronged risk," a senior oil and gas industry official working closely with Iran's Ministry of Petroleum told  OilPrice.com . “First, although it was not clear exactly where these additional payments were going, there was a risk that if it was discovered that they would end up in the pockets of officials, there would be significant damage to the reputation of the company involved, but inadvertently, Second, it meant that the compensation the companies were actually receiving was much less than what they had been subscribing to, and their margins were already very tight.”

“What this might mean for a company like Shell [although there is no indication that Shell, BP or ExxonMobil knowingly engaged in any improper activities whatsoever in Iraq], is that they were receiving an effective compensation fee per barrel of 1.25 US dollars per barrel.

for Majnoon and $1.70 per barrel for West Qurna 1 while it expected $1.39 per barrel for Majnoon and $1.90 per barrel for West Qurna 1, based on the major compensation figures contained in the contracts. 

Likewise, he emphasized, “Exxon found that many obstacles suddenly began to appear in CSSP- related projects  , such as not approving contracts for service work, or for obtaining permits to build the necessary infrastructure for pipelines and drilling wells, and for something as simple as obtaining visas for workers and customs clearance. for biotechnical equipment.

However, corruption is not the only reason for the mass exodus of Western oil companies from Iraq. The other key factor is that China, in particular, but also its partner in Middle Eastern affairs, Russia, with the two countries already controlling virtually everything worth having in Iraq's oil and gas sector and working to gain power over all the rest. 

A notable example of this is that even before the company says  Exxon it wants to get out of  the " West Qurna 1," China was already on - site dominant, not only through the quota of 32.7 per cent owned  by PetroChina - arm listed company  the CNPC - but also During the gradual acquisition of a set of supposedly "contract-only" huge awards presented to Chinese companies for work in this field.

These most recently included a $121 million engineering contract to upgrade facilities used to extract gas during crude oil production to  China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corp (“CPECC” ) that has been exclusively highlighted by  OilPrice.com in this regard.

 Exactly the same contracting model was only used in the Majnoon oil field from which Shell exited, where two game-changing contracts were signed: one with China's  Hilong Oil Service & Engineering to drill 80 wells at a cost of $54 million and the other with the Iraqi Drilling Company To drill 43 wells at a cost of $255 million. 

In fact, China is responsible for both, having provided the requested funds to the Iraqi Drilling Company as a "fee" for its participation, according to Iranian and Iraqi oil industry sources.

Complementing this shift in power to China that has been underway since former US President Donald Trump began reducing the US presence on the ground in the Middle East is that the new independent company that will now receive BP's interest in Iraq's Rumaila oil field will be jointly owned by IOC China National Petroleum ( CNPC ). 

This Chinese state oil company already owns a 46.4 percent stake in Rumaila - BP owns 47.6 percent and the remaining 6 percent owned by Iraq's state oil marketing organization - although a new stake split is not yet known.

 

 

[yota691]

Russia's Lukoil intends to sell its stake in West Qurna 2

 

West Qurna field

energy Economy News - Baghdad The CEO of the Russian "Lukoil" company, Waheed Ali Kabirov, said Thursday that the company may reduce its stake in the Iraqi "West Qurna 2" oil project. Adding that Iraq is currently preventing this, according to Reuters. As the company’s president, Vagit Alekperov, said, in response to a question about the company’s plans to sell a stake in the “West Qurna 2” project, “We have notified Iraq to sell part of our share, there are interested, I will not talk about the stake, so far the Iraqi Oil Ministry has refused because they are satisfied with the work The company is in Iraq, so we continue to negotiate to improve the economy in (West Qurna 2), especially in the Yamama reservoir.” And the Iraqi Oil Minister, Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar, said, last month, that "Lukoil" sent an official notification of its desire to sell its share in the field to Chinese companies, but he later said that the company wanted to stay in Iraq.

Views 515   Date Added 07/22/2021

[yota691]

 

Al-Kazemi from Washington: There is no alternative to "Exxon" except for another American company

 

 2021-07-27 01:32

 

Shafaq News/ The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, said that he wants another American company to replace Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM.N) when it exits Iraq.

 

Exxon, which in 2019 appeared ready to go ahead with a $53 billion project to boost Iraq's oil production, sought to sell its 32.7 percent stake in West Qurna 1, one of Iraq's largest oil fields.

 

Al-Kazemi told a small group of reporters in Washington, after talks with President Joe Biden, that "ExxonMobil is considering exiting Iraq for reasons related to its internal administrative practices and decisions, not because of the special situation in Iraq."

 

He added, "When ExxonMobil leaves, we will not accept that it be replaced by another American company," while he did not specify the name of the other companies.

 

Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar said in a statement to Shafaq News Agency; In mid-April, the ministry began its discussions with major US companies to choose a company that would obtain the right to buy Exxon Mobil's stake in the West Qurna 1 field.

 

In January 2010, ExxonMobil signed an agreement with the South Oil Company, one of the Iraqi Oil Ministry companies, to rehabilitate and develop the West Qurna-1 field in southern Iraq.

 

The proven reserves of the field are 8.7 billion barrels, and West Qurna is one of the rewarding fields that major Western oil companies are looking for in the face of stagnation or reduced production.

 

Exxon said in a previous statement that it had entered into an agreement with PetroChina and the Chinese oil and gas giant to sell its stake in West Qurna in January 2021.

 

The statement also said that Exxon had filed an arbitration lawsuit against the Basra Oil Company over Exxon's sale of West Qurna's stake.

 

"The sale is in line with ExxonMobil's strategy to focus on premium assets at the lowest cost of supply, including developments in Guyana, Brazil and the US Permian Basin," the statement read.

 

Securing foreign investment is critical for Iraq, the second largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), with oil revenues representing at least 95% of Iraq's income.

[yota691]

Iraqi Prime Minister: We will accept only an American alternative in the event of Exxon's exit

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi

 July 27, 2021 01:41 PM

Mubasher: Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi said that he would like another American company to replace Exxon Mobil when it exits Iraq.

 

 Exxon, which began in 2019 to proceed with a $53 billion project to increase Iraqi oil production, is seeking to sell its 32.7% stake in West Qurna 1, one of Iraq's largest oil fields, according to Reuters.

Al-Kazemi said in press statements after talks with President Joe Biden on Monday; ExxonMobil is considering leaving Iraq for reasons related to its internal administrative practices and decisions, and not because of the situation in Iraq.

He added that when ExxonMobil leaves, Iraq will not accept an alternative but another American company.

Al-Kazemi did not specify which US companies might be interested in the stake, and Chevron also has operations in Iraq.

Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar said last May that Iraq was considering buying ExxonMobil's stake in West Qurna through the state-owned Basra Oil Company. Iraq: When Exxon exits the country, we will accept only an American alternative.

On Monday evening, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, met with US President Joe Biden, at the beginning of his visit to the United States of America, which he arrived earlier at the head of a government delegation.

According to a statement from the Prime Minister's Media Office, the two sides held a round of talks at the White House in Washington, which dealt with various aspects of strengthening relations between the two countries in all security, economic, cultural, educational and health fields.

[yota691]

 

Oil Minister: "Lukoil" has changed its decision to sell its stake in a field in Iraq

 

 2021-07-31 01:00

 

Shafaq News/ The Chairman of the Ministerial Council for Energy and Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar Adoul announced the company's decision to sell the company's share in the (West Qurna-2) field to Chinese companies, stressing Iraq's ability to acquire shares that oil licensing companies wish to proceed with deals sold in the world market.

The semi-official newspaper, "Al-Sabah", quoted Abdul-Jabbar in its issue today, Saturday, as saying that "the Russian (Lukoil) company had previously sent an official notification stating that it wanted to sell its share in the (West Qurna-2) field to Chinese companies because (the existing investment) In Iraq, it is not appropriate in the eyes of large investors) according to the company’s description, as (most of them - that is, investors - in Iraq are either looking for another market or a partner to invest in the renewable energy sector) according to what she said.

He stressed that "discussions with the company (Lukoil) during the last six months contributed to the company's official retraction from its desire to offer part of the shares for trading for sale to other companies." He added, "Understanding the motives of (Lukoil) has contributed to developing solutions in coordination with the Ministry of Oil for some of the problems that the company believes have changed positively for the benefit of both parties."

And regarding Iraq’s purchase of the share of the American multinational company (Exxon Mobil), the main operator of the (West Qurna-1) field, the Oil Minister said: “We respect the contracts regarding the timing, but we were some time late in completing the share purchase program (Exxon Mobil) and that is currently being addressed. To obtain official approvals for the purpose of purchasing for the Basra Oil Company.

Abdul-Jabbar expressed his strong desire, supported by the same capabilities and expertise in the Ministry of Oil sector, "to acquire (ExxonMobil)'s share in the oil fields, as happened on August 12, 2018 after the withdrawal of (Shell) Oil Company from the (Majnoon) field," stressing that "the success recorded globally In the management and operation of the (Basra Oil) Company for the Majnoon field, evidence of our adherence to our great capabilities,” he added by saying: “The government and the ministry still support maintaining foreign investment in order to maintain modernity and development in partnership with major foreign companies in the maturation of logistics projects (transport, training and development). And investment in solar energy projects) by luring foreign companies to invest in solar energy and gas projects and building electricity plants with alternative energy, which is what is currently being discussed.

Abdul-Jabbar affirmed that the project to import gas from the Basra port is proceeding with the aim of achieving the sufficiency of the speed possible to equip electricity production stations with natural gas fuel, announcing the submission of several companies to offers to supply Iraq with natural gas at the current stage, in parallel with the government’s tendency to pump investments in the gas investment sector, and said, The approval of the Council of Ministers for a partnership contract with (Total) to build gas complexes in southern Iraq will help the country reach the production target to invest more than four billion standard cubic feet per day by 2024, enough to produce more than 10 kilowatts (10 thousand MW). Watts) from gas-electric power plants.

He promised that this "will help the country to gradually reduce the rate of the natural gas import bill over the coming years and get rid of the phenomenon of burning natural gas associated with crude oil in line with the environmental protection system and international requirements and standards in freezing energy produced with specific carbon fuels."