The managing director of the National Iranian Central Oilfields Company, Mehdi Fakour, said that eight drilling rigs are currently in operation in oilfields that are shared with Iraq, and that the output is “satisfactory”.

Iran reportedly produces 68,000 barrels per day of crude oil from four oilfields associated with Iraq: Naftshahr, Paydar Gharb, Dehloran and Aban.

Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said in August 2011 that the Iranian government should consider plans for the development of joint oilfields in the border areas with Iraq.

By the end of the fifth development plan (2015), the country’s oil production must increase to 5.2 million barrels per day (bpd) and this should happen from the country’s joint fields,” the ISNA News Agency quoted Qasemi as saying.

In January, Iran and Iraq announced that the two countries have reached an agreement to develop joint oil fields in border areas to increase their crude output.

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2012/05/17/tehran-baghdad-to-resume-talks-on-joint-oil-projects/

Dhiya Jafaar, head of the state-run South Oil Company, told Reuters that the company has already sent letters to consultancy companies and expects to receive offers soon. Iraq’s oil minister Abdul-Kareem Luaibi [Elaibi] said last week that several firms had been shortlisted.

The winning firm would replace ExxonMobil in leading the project; Exxon reportedly lost the contract in February, but Jafaar told Reuters that this was not connected with the company’s exploration deals in Iraqi Kurdistan, saying instead that the reason was “poor coordination and the project economics submitted by Exxon”.

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2012/05/15/iraq-invites-firms-to-manage-water-injection/

The Iraqi Government is currently in negotiations with Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron Phillips to invest in parts of the project. In November, Iraq signed a $17 billion contract with Royal Dutch Shell and Mitsubishi to capture flared gas from its oilfields in the south of the country.

Royal Dutch Shell is in talks and has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Iraqi Government. This in turn will lead to the construction of a petrochemical factory, it is projected to cost $8 – 10 billion. The factory will be situated in the southern city of Basra. Meanwhile Chevron Phillips are interested in rehabilitating a petrochemical factory in Basra and building a new one.

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2012/05/15/after-gas-and-the-rise-of-the-petrochemical-industry/

Gulf Keystone notes the continued and unfounded speculation on various bulletin boards and other social media sites regarding an alleged planned placing of the Company’s shares at 160p per share.

Gulf Keystone does not normally comment on such unfounded speculation. However, due to the damaging and misleading nature of these various comments which have been posted on bulletin boards and other social media sites during the past 24 hours, the Company feels it must respond.

Accordingly, Gulf Keystone is pleased to confirm categorically that it has no current intention of undertaking an institutional fundraising.

The Company is also pleased to confirm that the process regarding the sale of its 20% stake in the Akri-Bijeel block in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, is continuing and negotiations are ongoing with several interested bidders. The Company will issue further updates as appropriate.

The Company is currently taking legal advice with regard to the continued and unfounded speculation on various bulletin boards and other social media sites and will be taking all available legal action to prevent further repetition of similar speculative comments on bulletin boards and other social media sites.

Todd Kozel (pictured), Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented:

“We are working hard to create shareholder value via the continuing 2012/2013 exploration and appraisal program on our world-class assets in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. We will not tolerate malicious attempts to damage the Company’s reputation and share price. We have instructed the Company’s lawyers to use all means necessary to protect our shareholders from this malicious and unfounded attack.“

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2012/05/11/gkp-responds-to-internet-speculation-shares-rise/

The reason for the movement away from Iran is due to fears that the newly imposed US sanctions will make the payments for supplies from Iran even more difficult. A fear has arisen that the third-party payment system in place at this time will collapse due to the sanctions.

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/category/oil-gas/

Ali-Reza Gharibi, the Managing Director of company, said on Friday that “the 48-inch gas pipeline to Iraq, which will run for 220 kilometers, will be a branch of Iran’s sixth national gas pipeline”.

He went on to say that building the pipeline will begin as soon as a new gas deal is signed between Iran and Iraq.

The $450m project will be built by Iranian contractors, and will carry 25 million cubic meters per day of Iranian natural gas to Iraq.

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2012/05/04/iran-announces-450m-gas-pipeline-to-iraq/

The EIC Consult report found that, despite continued concerns over security, political instability, and the lack of a settled investment environment, the proposed infrastructure overhaul and ambitious plans to increase oil & gas production present huge and long-term opportunities for service providers at every stage of the supply chain.

The report stresses that Iraq remains the largest and most underdeveloped oil nation in the world today, with fewer than ten wells drilled annually since 1980 and only 25% of the country comprehensively explored for energy resources. As of 2011, Iraq had around 80 commercial oilfields and daily oil production averaged 2.65 million barrels per day (b/d).

While, if completed, the deals signed during Iraq’s licensing rounds would raise production to 12 million b/d by 2017, the report predicts a more conservative estimate of a minimum of around 6 million b/d and a maximum 8 million b/d by the end of 2017.

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2012/05/07/eic-consult-predicts-minimum-of-50bn-investment-in-iraqi-energy/

The figure was up 8.3 percent on March’s 2.317 million bpd, Falah al-Amri told Bloomberg. Oil sales in April generated $8.8 billion in revenue from a total of 75.25 million barrels, compared with $8.47 billion from 71.827 million barrels in March.

The opening of two new floating single point mooring (SPM) terminals has significantly eased export constraints.

“Our goal is to export 2.6 million barrels per day, and we are about to reach this point,” oil ministry spokesman Assem Jihad told AFP.

Iraq exported 2.12 million bpd by sea from Basra and 387,000 bpd from Kirkuk through a pipeline to Turkey. It also sent 6,000 bpd by truck into Jordan.

Iraq produced 2.89 million barrels a day of crude in April, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Exports gained in April even as the self-ruled Kurdish region of northern Iraq stopped pumping crude on April 1 through a pipeline controlled by the central government. The halt came amid a dispute over the sharing of revenue from oil pumped at Kurdish fields.

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2012/05/02/iraq-hits-new-oil-export-highs-in-april/

Iraq’s banks are quietly on the move, and the consequences for the economy could be powerful and far-reaching.

The country has 49 banks, and although lending has increased in the last couple of years, the loan-to-deposit rate still stands at only 44%, compared to around 80-90% for other banks in the Middle East.

However, we can now expect faster loan growth, and probably industry consolidation, because of action taken by the central bank.

Commercial banks have prospered by taking deposits and parking them at the central bank, earning interest rates as high as 15-20 percent as recently as 2009. But with inflation waning, the policy rate has been slashed to 6 percent, effectively cutting off this income stream.

At the same time, a requirement for lenders to increase their capital to at least 250 billion Iraqi dinars ($214 million) by mid-2013 is likely to result in mergers for those who struggle to reach the target.

To thrive and attract capital, Iraq’s banks will now need to expand their loan portfolio by taking on greater calculated risk, increasing returns and offering competitive interest rates to attract deposits.

Iraq’s economy is currently growing at a rate of nearly 10%, mostly due to high oil prices, but the benefits are only slowly improving standards of living. So huge investment is needed immediately, particularly in manufacturing, and this is where commercial banks should be stepping up.

The coming shake-up could be disruptive for the banking sector in the short-run, but it is an important step if Iraq is to unleash its full potential.

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2012/04/22/iraqs-banking-changes-could-unleash-economic-potential/