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By OilVoice – press release by CWC Group Limited: London (13 December 2011): Kurdistan Iraq Oil & Gas Conference was organised by CWC Group and opened by H.E. Dr Barham Salih, Prime Minister of KRG-Iraq. The conference took place on 13-15 November at the Saad Palace Conference Centre in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan. The event gathered…
By Shwan Zulal: The latest Exxon Mobil deal with the Kurdistan region has raised a few eyebrows and brought into focus the bitter dispute between the central Iraqi government in Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG). Current and previous Iraqi governments have refused to recognise the Kurdish production sharing contracts (PSCs) awarded by the KRG. Baghdad…
By Shwan Zulal: In a game-changing oil deal in the Kurdistan region, Exxon Mobil has signed a contract for six blocks with Kurdistan Regional Government, reported the FT. There were rumours about a major US oil company circling in the Kurdistan region, but experts dismissed any deals because of the danger of being blacklisted by…
By Shwan Zulal: The idea of an independent Kurdistan has been making the headlines recently. Politicians and commentators from all spectrums are airing their views like never before. The latest politician to wade into the argument is none other than Hassan Alawi, who is identified as a vocal supporter of the Kurds and one of…
By Shwan Zulal: Tension between Baghdad and the Kurdistan region has reached its peak since the Iraqi PM, Nuri Al-Maliki, ordered the removal of Kurdish flags from government buildings in Khanaqin in Diyala province, which is in the disputed territories defined under Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution. Since the directive was issued by the…
By Shwan Zulal: It has been three weeks since the KRG (Kurdistan Regional Government) published the Kurdish PSCs (Production Sharing Contracts) and surprisingly there has been very little reaction from Baghdad and the media in general. Before the publication of the oil deals, commentators were speculating about the content of the contracts and allegation of corruption was rife….
By Andres Cala, Energy Tribune: Earlier this month, former BP chief executive Tony Hayward, in a different manifestation, said the Kurdish region in Iraq was “one of the last great oil and gas frontiers” after paying $2.1 billion for a little known company with fields there that could hold billions of oil barrels. After the…
Update 20th September: Following a prolonged campaign for transparency, explained below, the KRG has today finally put PSC contracts into the public domain According to a report of the meeting that took place in Hawler last Tuesday between the President of Kurdistan, Masud Barzani, and Kurdish representatives in the Iraqi parliament, the president declared that…
By Shwan Zulal, EUCERS: A decision by several European countries to phase out nuclear production will leave the continent even more exposed to Russia as their main supplier. Alternative solutions mooted so far range from renewable types of generation to natural gas piped from theCaspian region. Increasingly, the resource‐rich Kurdistan region in northern Iraq appears as a viable…
By Shwan Zulal: On Sunday oil exports from the Kurdistan Region dropped significantly and the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki’s adviser on Kurdish affairs, told Reuters: “the stoppage was a reaction to central government approving a new oil and gas law without consulting Kurdish leaders”. A few hours later the KRG (Kurdistan Regional Government) said…
By Mufid Abdulla: One result of the recent explorations by oil companies operating in the south of Kurdistan is that their share prices have soared and the value of their companies has increased by seven or eight fold. Two years ago the price of Gulf Keystone shares was 20 pence; at close of business on…
By Shwan Zulal: The Kurdistan Region slammed the Iraqi central government in the strongest terms, on its handling of the newly-proposed oil and gas law and it accused Baghdad of dirty manoeuvring. The Kurdistan Region presidency office condemned the tactics used and called on the Council of Ministers to withdraw the government’s version of the…
By Shwan Zulal: The Iraqi Cabinet has finally approved the draft Hydrocarbon Law and it will soon be read in Parliament. This latest development comes against the backdrop of another draft oil law, which was introduced by the Iraqi parliamentary committee for energy, pushed by the Iraqiya List and the Kurds. Incumbent MPs walked out…
By Shwan Zulal: Oil prices are falling and set to go even lower as global uncertainty over the EU debt crises and US downgrade continues. It is hard to predict oil prices in the coming six month, but it is becoming clear that the global economy is not able to sustain $100 USD-plus prices for…
By Shwan Zulal: The rush for Kurdish oil and gas was stepped up a notch last week. More options were exercised and two hydrocarbon deal done plus there was renewed interest from Vallares. The Canadian ShaMaran Petroleum and the Australia Oil Search announced that they have exercised an option from a 2009 seismic deal and entered into a…
