Energy

Iraqi wartime production cuts reach 3.6 million bpd

Iraq is navigating acute logistical and infrastructure challenges to maximize refinery consumption and exports while the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.

Workers from the state-run Iraqi Drilling Company (IDC) work on a well at the West Qurna 1 field in Basra in March 2026. (Photo credit: IDC)

Aug 26, 2008

Iraq power generation at 2003 levels

Iraq is now producing as much power as it did on the eve of the US-led invasion of 2003 but is still meeting barely 50 percent of peak demand, a senior electricity ministry official said. "2008 is the first year when production has reached the level prior to that of Saddam Hussein's fall," the ministry's […]

Aug 21, 2008

Iraqi oil contracts ebb and flow

The long-suffering bill that would govern Iraq's oil industry and divvy up oil wealth has been stalled more than a year, bogged down in political squabbling and symbolic of problems rippling below the surface here despite success on the security front. Just last year, U.S. and Iraqi officials repeatedly announced that passage of the oil […]

Aug 19, 2008

China lands Iraqi oil contract – but U.S. still gets its crude

Iraq will sign a $1.2 billion oil service contract with China to replace a production-sharing deal agreed under Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi newspaper, an-Noor said, quoting oil minister Hussain al-Shahristani. The oil minister is travelling to China at the end of this month to discuss the deal, which was orginally signed in 1997 between Iraq […]

Aug 17, 2008

Iraqi oil contracts fizzle

Iraq is likely to abandon plans to sign up to $3 billion in short-term oil contracts, a U.S. diplomat said, putting in doubt deals that would give foreign oil firms their first major foothold in the country for decades, Missy Ryan reports for Reuters. "It appears that on present form (the Iraqi government) probably won't […]

Aug 14, 2008

Haliburton, Dana move on Iraq deals

Dana Gas, the United Arab Emirates-based oil and gas company, will start natural gas production from a gas field in northern Iraq in September and is preparing to drill appraisal wells at a second field next year, a top company executive said Thursday. The Abu Dhabi stock market-listed firm will start production of 75 million […]

Aug 12, 2008

Iraqi tecnical services contracts stalled

Oil negotiations between a handful of foreign companies and the government here appear stalled, setting back once again efforts to open up Iraqi oil fields to international companies, writes Gina Chon for The Wall Street Journal. Oil Ministry officials had said they hoped to sign contracts by the end of June. That deadline came and […]

Aug 10, 2008

Iraq resumes oil exploration

Iraq said it was resuming exploration of its immense oil reserves after a break of nearly 20 years due to crippling UN sanctions, saying it hopes to double its proven deposits of crude. "Today the Iraqi oil ministry celebrates a return to work by Iraqi oil exploration teams after 20 years of interruption," ministry spokesman […]

Aug 7, 2008

Iraq oil refineries eye upgrades as exports slip

Iraq's Cabinet has approved a multimillion dollar contract to upgrade an oil refinery in southern Iraq, The Associated Press reported. The $81-million contract will be awarded jointly to the U.S.-based Colorado Industrial Construction Services Co. (CICSCO) and CH2M HILL's affiliate VECO Co. for the production of gasoline from the Samawah refinery, according to the official, […]

Jul 31, 2008

Iraqi oil production peaks

Iraqi oil production has risen to its highest level since the 2003 invasion on the back of improved security across the country, according to a new US government report. Iraq pumped an average of 2.43m bpd between April and June, according to the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, writes Demetri Sevastopulo for The Financial […]

Jul 24, 2008

Firms line up for Iraqi oil, but outlook murky

An oil refinery in the once restive and violent city of Haditha is working once again. The reopening ceremony was attended by Oil Minister Hussein Shahristani who thanked the people of the Province of Anbar, of which Haditha is a major town, for their efforts to restore relative stability. The refinery was shut due to […]