Mohammed Yassin Hassan al-Obaidi has been appointed acting director general in a leadership reshuffle at Iraq's smallest state-run oil company.
Japanese firm is set to sell its minority share in the Lukoil-operated project as the start of commercial production approaches.
The American super-major will sell its last remaining upstream asset in Iraq to the state-run Basra Oil Company, resolving a years-long conflict over the terms of its exit.
The consortium operating Kurdistan's most prolific gas field is negotiating a potentially paradigm-shifting deal to sell directly to Baghdad.
The northern export pipeline was offline for a seventh straight month, but Iraq has now compensated for about half the lost volumes with increased oil sales via southern outlets.
Bassim Taher Abid is tapped as the new acting director of the Petroleum Contracts and Licensing Directorate as the ministry gears up for two new licensing rounds.
In an effort to attract foreign investors to its upcoming licensing rounds, the Oil Ministry is adding more projects and better contractual terms.
With the northern pipeline still offline, Iraq is compensating with robust southern exports and expanding sales into Kurdistan's local market.
Political obstacles within Iraq are still preventing crude exports from restarting after a formal letter from BOTAS to SOMO confirmed the pipeline is ready.
Crude sales averaged above 3.4 million for the third straight month as Iraq maxes out southern export outlets.
Northern exports can only come online if Baghdad strikes new political and commercial agreements.
Recent meetings show renewed efforts to set terms for reopening the export pipeline, but top-level political approval is hardly assured.
Fields in Kurdistan are raising production and selling into the local market, as output increases despite the ongoing northern pipeline closure.
Fayadh Nema and Falah Alamri have deep relationships in the Oil Ministry and decades of experience with hot-button energy issues.
High-level diplomacy has failed to make progress, and a recent U.S. legal filing from Turkey suggests a new phase of adversarial action.
Iraq is pushing the limits of its outdated southern export infrastructure as a dispute with Turkey is keeping the northern pipeline system offline.
Exports and output are rising, but Kurdistan's oil industry is still in crisis due to the northern pipeline outage.
Construction is underway on a new pipeline to bring gas supplies from the Khor Mor field up to Dohuk.
Federal crude output continues trend of small monthly gains in June, partially compensating for loss of Kurdistan production due to ongoing pipeline outage.
Current deputy, Laith al-Shahir, former head of legal directorate, reaches mandatory retirement age.
A $417M subsea pipeline project that was funded and then suspended over the past two months has gotten Cabinet approval again, with a half million barrel per day capacity increase slated for next year.
The delay is the latest for the project that was supposed to be completed in 2018, and is sorely needed to expand fuel supply, reduce purchase costs, and provide an additional outlet for Iraqi crude output.
Final paperwork expected to be signed Monday between Iraq and TotalEnergies, after which the company will begin to take over the Ratawi oil field operations.
KRG crude exports are still shut in due to the northern pipeline outage, but federal exports have increased further, nearing the maximum capacity of outdated Basra Gulf infrastructure.
