Top Energy StoriesTotalEnergies could be close to finalizing a multi-billion-dollar energy deal it has been negotiating since April. "We have secured the terms and the reference on the contract. We've agreed with Total on the economic model," said Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Ismaael, in a July interview with Iraq Oil Report, expressing optimism that the final signing "should happen before September." French President Emmanuel Macron’s impending visit to Iraq is raising expectations that contracts could be signed soon. Macron arrived in Baghdad on Aug. 27 to attend a regional summit co-hosted by Iraq and France. TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné is also expected to be in Baghdad at the same, according to one official familiar with the matter, though he is not part of the official delegation and his visit had been planned well in advance. Read the full story on Iraq Oil Report. Iraq's countrywide oil production jumped by 150,000 bpd in July, to 4.18 million bpd, according to an independent field-by-field count by Iraq Oil Report. Most of the increases came from fields operated by the federal government under contracts with international oil companies, including BP's Rumaila project, Eni's Zubair, and Lukoil's West Qurna 2. The country still has plenty of spare capacity left to bring online as OPEC quotas continue to ease. Read the full story on Iraq Oil Report. 
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has told Genel Energy that it intends to terminate the Bina Bawi and Miran production sharing contracts, the company said, two projects with enormous natural gas reserves that have faced contractual delays for years. There was no immediate word from the KRG’s Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) as to why it had chosen to terminate the gas PSCs at this time, when the KRG’s plans to expand gas production and create export revenue are running years behind schedule. The decision to terminate the two contracts is likely to hit investor confidence after a disastrous year which saw operations in the Kurdistan region disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic and the collapse in oil prices, which strained Erbil’s finances and its ability to honor its financial commitments. For more on the future of Kurdistan's gas sector, read the full story on Iraq Oil Report. Iraq's Cabinet approved a restructuring of the consortium that operates the Rumaila oil field. The decision, announced by the prime minister's office on Aug. 24, means that BP and CNPC will be shareholders in a new entity, the Basra Energy Company, rather than joint venture partners. Industry watchers have speculated the move is mainly driven by BP's desire to move carbon-intensive projects off its books. It remains unclear what pratical effect, if any, the restructuring will have on the future of Rumaila, which currently accounts for nearly one-third of the country's production. Security NewsSuspected insurgents detonated explosives at the Bai Hassan oil field and on a key electricity transmission line from Erbil to Kirkuk on Aug. 15, the latest in a string of escalating acts of violence across northern Iraq. The attacks on energy infrastructure and security force checkpoints are a near-daily occurrence in areas that were once the frontlines of the war against the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) group. Read the full story on Iraq Oil Report. Jabar Yawar, Secretary General of the KRG Ministry of Peshmerga, spoke with Iraq Oil Report about the security challenges along Kurdistan's southern border. He is among the leaders representing Kurdish security forces in ongoing meetings with federal Iraqi commanders over how to defend a swath of disputed territory in northern Iraq against an increase in attacks from the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) group. Yawar said recent bombings of electricity pylons by IS are a “new form of terrorist activity,” as are an increase in drones that are difficult to shoot down. Read the full transcript on Iraq Oil Report. More Iraq NewsMoqtada al-Sadr says he will participate in Iraq's general election. Sadr had previously said his political movement would sit out the election, but that was widely seen as anti-establishment posturing rather than a serious declaration of intent. His reversal is no surprise. Iraq seeks to ease Saudi-Iran hostility at Baghdad summit. The upcoming summit, co-hosted by Iraq and France, represents an attempt by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to help the stability of Iraq by addressing the regional tensions that have historically made the country a battleground. Iraq and PowerChina have signed a provisional agreement to develop 2,000 megawatts of solar power. The move is one of a few Iraqi efforts to build a supply of renewable energy. The prime minister's office called it an "agreement of principles" that does not appear to be a binding contract. It remains unclear how the project might be financed or whether the two sides have nailed down the commercial terms. Iraq has sentenced an Australian engineer to five years in prison. The charges stem from a dispute over a deal with CME Consulting, which is working on the Central Bank of Iraq's new headquarters in Baghdad — a project that has suffered from delays and cost over-runs. The CBI reportedly invited Rob Pether, an engineer with CME, to a meeting in Baghdad on April 7, ostensibly to negotiate a resolution to the dispute. But Iraqi authorities instead arrested Pether. In addition to the five-year jail sentence he and a colleague have been fined $12 million, which appears to be roughly the amount in dispute in the CME deal. "We have sought clarity about, as I’ve said, the nature of the complaints that have resulted in Mr. Pether’s detention," said Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, speaking to Perth radio in May. "And if it is indeed a civil matter, a contractual matter, then we would seek for it to be treated in that way." | 