Category: Iraq

 Iraq’s cabinet approved a plan to build a pipeline to send the output of oil fields in Rumaila to Aqaba in Jordan, according to a Wednesday statement from the country’s Continue Reading

Any disruption in the oil exports flowing through the Strait of Hormuz will be a “major obstacle” for Iraq’s economy, Iraq’s Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said on Tuesday as Continue Reading

Spurred by perceived breaches of the 2019 budget law, MPs are targetting a swath of compromises and commercial deals aimed at bridging political gaps and increasing fuel and power supply Continue Reading

Last week a small news item went largely unnoticed by the international media but it hints at the real – and until now unpublished – reason why ExxonMobil has not Continue Reading

 Iraq’s oil exports dropped by 3.5 percent between May and June, though nationwide oil sales – of 3.946 million barrels per day (bpd) * – remain near record levels. Halfway Continue Reading

The U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 completely altered the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East. After Saddam’s forces were defeated, a violent insurgency led to the deaths of 4,487American soldiers Continue Reading

Iraq’s oil exports dropped by 3.5 percent between May and June, though nationwide oil sales – of 3.946 million barrels per day (bpd) * – remain near record levels. Halfway Continue Reading

Iraq’s crude exports in June fell to 3.52 million b/d from 3.572 million b/d in May, according to figures provided by the State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) exclusively Continue Reading

Iraq, which has surpassed its oil output quota under the most recent OPEC/non-OPEC supply cut accord, is committed to the deal, but stands ready to meet any global demand growth, Continue Reading

Over and above the petty party squabbling that characterises the politics of Iraq’s semi-autonomous northern region of Kurdistan, it can safely be conjectured that at least two groups of people Continue Reading

Just weeks ago, U.S. energy giant ExxonMobil looked poised to move ahead with a $53 billion project to boost Iraq’s oil output at its southern fields, a milestone in the Continue Reading

A rocket hit a site in southern Iraq used by foreign oil companies on Wednesday, including U.S. energy giant ExxonMobil, wounding three people and threatening to further escalate U.S.-Iran tensions Continue Reading

Katyusha rockets struck two oil sites in Basra on Wednesday, raising fears that tensions between the U.S. and Iran could destabilize Iraq’s oil sector. While nobody has claimed responsibility for Continue Reading

Premiums for Iraq’s Basrah Heavy crude grade fell sharply this month as Chinese demand for the grade dimmed on lower refinery run rates, traders said on Thursday.  A spot tender Continue Reading

Iraq is looking to draft contingency plans in case the heightened tension in the Middle East results in some kind of blockade of Iraq’s oil exports through the Persian Gulf—a Continue Reading

As tensions soared Friday between the United States and Iran, Iraqis weighed the prospect that their country would once again become a battleground for the two rivals. The recent military Continue Reading

Russia’s Lukoil has presided over a major discovery at Iraq’s exploration Block 10, raising new expectations of ultimately producing over 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the Eridu field. Preliminary Continue Reading

Despite an OPEC quota, output is rising. Iraq increased crude output in May by about 234,000 barrels per day (bpd), reversing a months-long trend of production cuts to meet OPEC Continue Reading

U.S. sanctions on Iran’s oil industry were bound to be good news for fellow OPEC producers in the Middle East even if it wouldn’t have been good manners to acknowledge Continue Reading

Small-scale demonstrations at three oil installations raise the specter of last summer’s destabilizing protest movement. Protesters march in Burjisiya, near the Zubair oil field, on July 31, 2018. (ALI AL-AQILY/Iraq Continue Reading

The Federal Government of Iraq (FGI) in Baghdad moved swiftly when the U.S. re-imposed sanctions against Iran, ordering its Oil Ministry to breach part of the supply gap by increasing Continue Reading

A series of explosions in Iraqi oil hotpot Kirkuk has killed at least five people and injured 18 more, medical sources reported to Reuters on Thursday . No one has Continue Reading

Iraq lifted a state of emergency which was declared at the Majnoon oil field in the south of the country because of floods, Oil Minister Thamer Ghadhban said on Saturday. Continue Reading

Khurmala Dome accounts for one-third of Iraqi Kurdistan’s oil output; the federal North Oil Company, which controlled the field until 2008, is taking legal action to reclaim it. Then-KRG Prime Continue Reading

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has not made a decision on extending a 90-day U.S. waiver exempting Iraq from sanctions to buy energy from Iran, a State Department spokeswoman Continue Reading

Iraq’s Basra Provincial Council is calling on the Iraqi government to take Exxon to task over its decision to evacuate its engineers from its West Qurna oilfield in the Basra Continue Reading

A new border crossing between Iraq and Syria is under construction in an area controlled by Iran-affiliated militias, Fox News reports , citing satellite images revealing construction works at the Continue Reading

Iraq’s unresolved oil disputes are once again garnering attention from members of Parliament, who are voicing criticism of an informal political deal that has helped increase the federal government’s crude Continue Reading

Iraq will raise the oil production from its giant West Qurna 1 field by as much as 50,000 bpd in the next few days, a senior industry official told Reuters Continue Reading

Six months into Iraqi Oil Minister Thamir Ghadhban’s tenure, his ministry is fighting against major political headwinds as it pursues strategically important deals. Surrounded by grandstanding politicians who have already Continue Reading

ExxonMobil evacuated some staff from southern Iraq over fears of rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran, although there is still little evidence to suggest any oil operations will be Continue Reading

“Unacceptable and unjustified” are the words Iraqi Oil Minister Thamer Ghadhban used to describe ExxonMobil’s hasty exit from the troubled country, according to Reuters , but a late-night rocket strike Continue Reading

A major oil deal between Iraq and Exxon Mobil was “very close” but had been slowed by Exxon’s decision on Saturday to evacuate its international staff from the West Qurna Continue Reading

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia — Iraq can revert to fuel-switching if the country loses or has reduced access to Iranian gas for its power needs, Iraq’s oil minister Thamir al-Ghadhban told Continue Reading

Iraq’s oil minister on Sunday blasted ExxonMobil for evacuating its foreign staff from the West Qurna 1 field, saying all international oil companies working in the country have a secure Continue Reading

ExxonMobil has withdrawn its 30 foreign staff from Iraq’s West Qurna 1 field, according to Iraqi state-run Basra Oil Company, following a US State Department warning about security risks from Continue Reading

Production is unaffected and the security situation appears calm as ExxonMobil evacuates dozens of foreign staff from the West Qurna 1 field, following U.S. claims of threats from Iran. ExxonMobil Continue Reading

Iraq has contingency plans for any stoppage of Iranian gas imports for its power grid but hopes no such disruption will take place, Oil Minister Thamer Ghadhban said on Thursday. Continue Reading

Iraq’s oil operations remain stable in the face of rising tensions between Washington and Tehran, despite the U.S. State Department’s decision Wednesday to remove non-emergency personnel from Iraq. According to Continue Reading

Iraq continued to curtail its oil production in April to meet is OPEC obligations, focusing cuts mainly on state-operated fields in the south. The federal government and the autonomous Kurdistan Continue Reading

ExxonMobil is starting to evacuate its engineers working on Iraq’s West Qurna 1 field due to security concerns, according to Al Arabiya. Earlier in the day, S&P Global Platts reported Continue Reading

The State Department ordered a partial evacuation of the United States Embassy in Baghdad on Wednesday, responding to what the Trump administration said was a threat linked to Iran, one Continue Reading

Iraq is looking to strengthen its economy after decades of war, sanctions, sectarian division and the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ( ISIL or ISIS). Continue Reading

Iraq regards the U.S.’s refusal to extend waivers for countries importing oil from Iran as a tacit endorsement for it to pump its own oil to the maximum. This dovetails Continue Reading

Few in Iraq’s oil capital, Basra, look forward to the fetid humidity of summer, when temperatures can soar to 55C. But for Adel Abdul Mahdi, Iraqi prime minister, the coming Continue Reading

Iraq will soon finalize a large-scale, long-term deal for the development of oil fields in the South with Exxon and PetroChina. The 30-year contract will involve investments of US$53 billion Continue Reading

The Cabinet threw political weight behind the Southern Iraq Integrated Project, injecting momentum into negotiations over a massive infrastructure deal that is critical to Iraq’s production and export growth.  Iraq’s Continue Reading

Iraq oil minister Thamer Ghadhban said on Wednesday he expects his ministry to sign an initial deal with Exxon Mobil and PetroChina “very soon”, but did not give a specific Continue Reading

Iraq is close to signing a $53 billion, 30-year energy agreement with Exxon Mobil and PetroChina, Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said on Tuesday, denying any link between the mega-project Continue Reading

Iraq has been at the center of many a Middle East conflict in the region’s contemporary history. The country has endured years of violence since the U.S. led invasion in Continue Reading