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Energy

Iraq seeks backup options for West Qurna 2

As a sanctions deadline looms, Basra Oil Company is poised to manage the 480,000 bpd field while Lukoil continues negotiating to sell its stake.
A ceremony at the West Qurna 2 oil field in Basra to mark the opening of two new well complexes on June 1, 2023. (JASSIM AL-JABIRI/Iraq Oil Report)
Sep 18, 2007

Iraq War, Oil and Greenspan’s Gospel

The U.S. media blew up, and the Bush administration responded, when the 20 words from former Fed. Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan’s new book called out the oil motive for the Iraq war. Greenspan utilized his 15 minutes on the book circuit to explain what he meant to say, an apparent attempt to take the heat […]

Sep 13, 2007

It must be bad for the oil law…

…if The New York Times is writing about it A1, top of the fold. Also in today’s Iraq Oil Report, the U.S. wants to ink deals with Sadr while its top Anbar ally is assassinated. But first, James Glantz writes the tender deal making on the law governing Iraq’s vast reserves seems to be falling […]

Sep 12, 2007

Governing Kirkuk

I am a responsible person and in assuming government responsibility, I will not be afraid. I was subjected to many assassination attacks but I was not afraid. Since I’ve accepted to assume responsibility, I should be able to cope with such responsibility and I’m never afraid and I’ll never be afraid. This is a motive […]

Sep 11, 2007

KRG issues warning shot to Shahristani

Iraq Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani’s comments in Dubai about Iraqi Kurdistan’s oil prerogatives, calling into question their legitimacy and legality, didn’t sit well in Irbil. The KRG issued a statement Tuesday calling the remarks "totally unacceptable." Dr Shahristani was already strongly advised to stay out of issues over which he has no authority. But once […]

Sep 10, 2007

10 days with Iraq in Dubai

Two conferences on Iraq oil and other energy, security and political issues. Government and oil industry officials met and went. And now back to Iraq, where the oil law, as well as the revenue sharing law, seem far from complete. But behind all the controversy and political rhetoric from in and outside Iraq, the fact […]

Sep 6, 2007

Iraq readies plans to privatize electricity sector

Two of Iraq's many needs right now are more electricity and more investment. A law being drafted could satisfy both, paving the way for foreign and domestic private companies to build power plants, a step toward fully privatizing the electricity sector. "It should be short coming," a senior U.S. official working in Baghdad on Iraq's […]

Sep 5, 2007

Iraq security keeps investors away, as does oil law

Security in Iraq is a major holdup to investment there, sometimes second only to the lack of a law governing Iraq's vast oil and gas reserves.Various security plans, by Iraqi and U.S. forces, are intended to break the cycle of violence, but little of the ambitions for Iraq's future will take hold until its citizens […]

Sep 4, 2007

The inaugural edition of the Iraq Oil Report

Iraq’s Reserves Rush Hundreds of potential investors, some of the biggest oil firms in the world, flock to Dubai for access to the reserves. I was there to watch the party: The question is simple on the third and final day of a major Iraqi energy conference where hundreds of hungry oil men and women […]