Plus:
*Iraq and Europe courting each other for gas, oil support
*Russia writes off 91 percent of Iraq’s debt in move once reserved for W. Qurna rights
*Iraq: The Alcohol Smugglers
*Much more…
Iraq’s Oil Ministry will continue meetings with Shell, BP, ExxonMobil and Chevron on Feb. 25, with deals to be signed in March, reports Dow Jones Newswires’ Hassan Hafidh. Apparently more talks will take place with Vitol Hodling, Dome and an as-yet unnamed company. China will resume talks also for the southern Iraq field it held a deal for under Saddam Hussein. This is a great piece by Hafidh. Read it.
Russia will write-off $13 billion in debt owed by Iraq, The Associated Press reports. It had been a sticking point as Russian-giant Lukoil had pressed for a deal to develop the W. Qurna oil field. The Oil Ministry in Iraq had said a deal signed and then cancelled during the Saddam Hussein regime is old news, but Russia feels it still has legal ties to it.
Europe is hungry for Iraq’s natural gas, Ben Lando reports for United Press International.
Iraq is looking outside its legal and security troubles to establish mutually beneficial energy ties with Europe.
Last week Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani met with top EU commissioners in Brussels to discuss energy cooperation. Iraq has 112 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves and, like its oil reserves, experts say complete exploration will find up to three times more.
But realities on the ground post-2003 as well as Saddam Hussein leftovers are making it hard to develop. Europe, meanwhile, is desperate for Russian alternatives and is offering helping hands to develop Iraq’s electricity sector.
Both Turkey and the United States have discussed helping out as well.
“Energy is one of the important sectors that Iraq is working on in the relations with Europe,” Sami Askari, an Iraq parliamentarian and adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, told United Press International. “Iraq has large reserves of gas and oil and we’re looking for new markets and I think Europe will be the nearer and most important potential market.”…
A recap of Iraq petro problems in an Oil Around the World article by Megan Sever in Geotimes.
The Iraq Weekly Status Report, a marker of key economic and political trends, published by the U.S. State Department.
Iraq: Does Government Crackdown Target Messianic Cults Or Opposition?, by Kathleen Ridolfo for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.At least 50 people were killed in clashes last month in both Al-Nasiriyah and Al-Basrah that broke out after suspected followers of a messianic Shi’ite group attacked other Shi’ite worshippers and security forces.
The Iraq Press Roundup by UPI’s Hiba Dawood.
Iraq: The Alcohol Smugglers, an interesting look at the Iran-Northern Iraq booze trade by Frontline on PBS.
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