Kurdistan’s Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani has confirmed that discussions with Baghdad over Iraq’s controversial oil law would continue within two weeks. “We will be traveling to Baghdad to start negotiations on the oil law in two weeks. It’s important that we agree on the law otherwise foreign companies won’t come to invest in our region.”
Iraq Oil Law
Iraq May Drop Oil Service Contracts
The Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein Al-Shahristani has said the country will likely drop oil service contracts with foreign companies if they don’t have their proposals finalized by a June deadline and will move forward with the work on its own. “June is already a bit late… We may drop them if they aren’t signed soon … Read More
Eni Looking for Iraq Return
ENI’s chief executive Paolo Scaroni said he is “certain” the company will return to doing business in Iraq as soon as it is safe to do so, because it represents such an “opportunity”. “What we know for sure is that Iraq produces 1.5 million barrels a day and it could be producing 5 million (a … Read More
Iraq Parliament to Discuss Oil Law
Iraq’s government and Kurdish officials will resume talks “soon” to finally try to iron out remaining disputes over the country’s controversial oil law. Although officials have said drafts of the oil law have been submitted to parliament four times in the past year only to be rejected by the legislature’s oil and gas committee, according … Read More
Iraq: 35 Companies Qualify for Oil Deals
Iraq’s Oil Ministry has approved 35 companies it will allow to bid for soon-to-be announced tenders to develop oil and gas fields. The largest oil companies in the world — ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Conoco Phillips, Chevron — all qualified, as did firms of a variety of sizes and nationalities. The announcement yesterday is a major … Read More
Iraq Oil Laws Quietly Move on
Quietly working behind the scenes, negotiators are hammering out a new draft Iraq oil law after previous versions of the controversial legislation stalled. “Shortly, we’ll see a new draft which there is more common ground,” Abdul-Hadi al-Hasani, deputy chair of the Iraqi Parliament’s Oil, Gas and Natural Resources Committee, has told wire reports.
Iraq: The Scramble Gathers Pace
It seems the Iraqi and American governments are not waiting to pass the controversial oil law to develop Iraq’s oil as things are moving a pace in the oil sector. Last week, General David Petraeus called on “large Western corporations” to invest in Iraq’s energy sector as Iraq looks outside to boost oil, gas and … Read More
Iraq: Cabinet Gives Green Light to Oil Deals
Iraq’s cabinet has given the green light to the Oil Ministry to sign agreements with international oil companies to help increase the nation’s crude output. The two-year deals, known as technical support agreements, or TSAs, are designed to develop five producing fields to add 500,000 barrels per day to the country’s current 2.4 million barrels … Read More
Solidarity Actions Reinforce Opposition to Iraq Oil Law
On February 23, dozens of solidarity actions were held across the US and UK to support the Iraqi people in their resistance of an oil law that would give unprecedented control to foreign oil companies. In Washington, Oil Change International —in coalition with other US labor and peace organizations— hosted a press conference and march … Read More
Big Oil “Poised to Move into Basra”
Western oil giants are poised to enter Basra to tap the country’s vast reserves, despite the ongoing threat of violence, according to the UK Prime Minister’s business emissary to the country. Michael Wareing, who heads the new Basra Development Commission, acknowledged that there would be concerns among Iraqis about multinationals exploiting natural resources.