Published
February 6, 2008,
5:47 pm in
Oil
Plus:
*Oil Ministry Shahristani in BBC interview
*Iraqi Kurdistan’s Oil Minister Ashti Hawrami vows to sign more deals
*OMV rejects Shahristani’s claim, will stick with KRG deal
*Kurds threaten to withdraw from government
*Iraq’s ambassador to U.S. optimistic on the draft oil law
*Shell, Repsol register for oil bids; Exxon wants in too
Negotiations between international oil companies and Iraq Oil Ministry officials appear to be progressing, despite protests at a conference in London. Iraq…
Published
February 4, 2008,
8:50 pm in
Security
Plus:
*Oil Majors get special crude instead of cash deal for upcoming oil deals
*Iraq-Jordan oil import deal solidifies
*Smugglers near Baiji set pipeline ablaze
*Oil union leader keys British anti-war tour
*Iraq sends delegation to Qatar for gas cooperation
*Italy’s Edison, Shell want into Iraq gas too
*Turkish op-ed denies cutting N. Iraq’s electricity
*Security, Society & Politics
*America in Iraq
Iraq’s Foreign Ministry says it has passed on a letter of warning to Tehran regarding accus…
There’s optimism in Iraq, at least from a mysterious cadre called the Energy Fusion Cell, which for the past eight months worked to bring coherence to both U.S. and Iraqi initiatives in the oil, gas and power sectors — the backbone of its citizens’ quality of life and the bulk of the national budget.
It’s a U.S. creation for sure, spearheaded by Iraq-based units in the Defense and State departments to meet U.S., U.N. and international finance and banking agreements. But it’s now gotten active …
Published
January 25, 2008,
4:34 pm in
Oil
Plus:
*Negotiated deals with Big Oil done by first quarter 2008
*Contracts on oil fields from bids signed by end ‘08, more next year
*Exports to Turkey resumes, fears remain it can’t deliver on crude contracts
*Political party that runs Basra may rejoin national government
*Iraq’s editorial pages
Iraq has its sights set on 300,000 to 400,000 extra barrels per day of production this year, a hope Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani pins on recent months of successful increases in oil flow and rel…
Published
January 24, 2008,
7:20 pm in
Politics
Plus:
*Iraq oil exports up last year
*But the northern pipeline is down
*And last week production dropped
*Oil Minister in Davos says OPEC output OK
*Babil province talking tough over blackouts
Despite rumors that oil law negotiations were going to restart, it appears not so, United Press International reports. The Kurdistan Regional Government and the national government have not come to terms on how the law will distribute control over the oil fields. The KRG has gone forward unilaterally, pa…
Published
January 23, 2008,
8:40 pm in
Politics
Plus:
*Oil from Kirkuk expected to restart soon
*National Security chief survives ambush
*What’s in a flag?
*New Baath law reservations
*more…
Iraq’s Kurdish oil leaders are in Baghdad to clear an impasse over oil control, though the national oil minister is reportedly not in town. That could be the point, since some Kurdish leaders have called for Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani to be removed from office, United Press International reports.Shahristani has confirmed attendance at the Worl…
Published
January 18, 2008,
6:01 pm in
Politics
Plus:
*Oil Ministry cracks down more on oil firms signing deals with Kurds
*Kirkuk pipeline cutting short planned oil sales
*Oil refineries, power plants have a bad week
*Much, much more…
Iraq’s Oil Ministry spent $558 million on capital projects in 2007 to improve its struggling oil sector. Or $500 million. Or only $270,000.
A new report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office isn’t sure. Its attempt to measure the Iraqi government’s ability to put its capital budget into motion was fr…
Published
January 15, 2008,
5:45 pm in
Politics
Plus:
*Kurd leader Barzani says Kirkuk vote a must
*Who supports Shahristani on the KRG deals?
*$558M spent in Iraq oil sector, but no details, no transparency
*U.S. blamed for Basra refinery fire
*The Iraq Press Roundup
*and More
A majority of Iraq’s parliamentarians have signed an agreement against Iraqi Kurds’ moves to unilaterally develop the oil sector and control oil-rich Kirkuk, UPI reports.The new agreement between a dozen political factions in Iraq also aligns one-time opponents agains…
Plus:
*Iraq oil ends ‘07 with good and it’s-been-worse news
*Oil law update
*What Turkey wants
*Iraqi solutions, U.S. problems
*much more….
Turkey’s president made it clear during his visit to Washington this week that his country will continue a hard-line approach in dealing with the Kurdish guerrilla campaign in his country and ensuring Kirkuk, Iraq’s oil-rich northern city, doesn’t fall under control of Iraq’s Kurds.
After meetings with top officials, including President Bush, President A…
