Category: Iraq

A ship docks at the al-Basra Oil Terminal on Nov. 27, 2013. (ESSAM AL-SUDANI) Recommend 224 people recommend this. Sign Up to see what your friends recommend. Iraq’s oil exports rose to 2.98 million barrels per day (bpd) in March – a 15 percent jump from February – marking the highest monthly output the country has achieved in the post-Saddam era.Oil sales increased by nearly 400,000 bpd, up from 2.59 million bpd in February, according to data released by the Oil Ministry. The increase was mostly due to better weather in the Basra Gulf, which allowed more tankers to load.Buyers paid an average of $48.24 per barrel, up slightly from $47.43…

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Iraq boosted crude shipments in March to the highest level in more than three decades, adding to a global supply glut that has helped push down oil prices by 46 percent in the last year. OPEC’s second-largest producer shipped 92.4 million barrels in March, or 2.98 million barrels a day, Oil Ministry spokesman Asim Jihad said by phone from Baghdad. Iraqi exports gained 15 percent from February, when foul weather at the country’s southern oil terminals limited shipments to 2.59 million barrels a day, according to the Oil Ministry. “The ministry has made extraordinary efforts to boost crude oil exports to compensate for the delays in loading of tankers due to bad weather,” Jihad said in a statement earlier Wednesday. Iraq’s monthly shipments rebounded amid an oversupply fed partly by the U.S. shale boom and increased output from Russia. U.S. crude inventories expanded in the week ended March 27 […]

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SINGAPORE (Reuters) – A backlog of over 30 oil tankers has built up outside the Iraqi port of Basra and shippers face lengthy delays of up to three weeks to load oil because of bad weather and possible oil quality issues, shipping industry sources said. The problems could delay or limit the number of oil export cargoes from Basra in April, potentially pushing down tanker freight rates, two Singapore ship brokers familiar with the issue said. More than 30 oil tankers, two-thirds of them supertankers (VLCC), with a combined capacity of around 50 million barrels are currently lying outside Basra, some of them since mid-March, Reuters shipping data shows. "The bad weather (in February) has caused all these delays," said Sadiq Jaafar, head of marine consultancy firm Sadiq Jaafar & Associates in Baghdad. The strong winds and storms created a backlog into March and April, said two other maritime […]

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Iraqi fighters of the government-controlled Popular Mobilisation units take part in the military operation to retake Tikrit Iraq’s prime minister declared jihadi forces had been cleared from the centre of the city of Tikrit, just days after US-led aircraft joined a month-long fight for the provincial capital. In a televised appearance yesterday, Haider al-Abadi said fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or Isis, had been pushed out of the centre of the city after Iraqi troops launched a surprise attack followed six days of US-led bombing runs. “Our heroic forces reached the centre of Tikrit a short time ago and raised the Iraqi flag,” Mr Abadi said. “[They] are currently in the process of purging the rest of the areas of Daesh,” he added, using the Arabic acronym for Isis. Defeat in Tikrit, if confirmed, would represent a serious setback for Isis, which pushed from […]

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A still image from video taken by a U.S. Coast Guard HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft shows the oil tanker United Kalavyrta approaching Galveston, Texas July 25, 2014. It carries around 1 million barrels of crude loaded by the KRG, which Baghdad has sued for possession of in U.S. court. (REUTERS/US Coast Guard handout) Recommend 10 people recommend this. Sign Up to see what your friends recommend. The Iraqi Oil Ministry said it has settled a lawsuit against Greek shipping firm Marine Management Services (MMS), which it sued in September for providing the ships used to transport the Kurdistan region’s autonomous crude exports.The settlement represents an apparent setback for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which has sold the vast majority of its independent pipeline exports through ships chartered from MMS. KRG leaders have said they intend to continue selling oil autonomousl…

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Iraqi oil officials lead the first bidding round of technical service contracts on June 30, 2009. (THAIER AL-SUDANI/Reuters) As Iraq begins to renegotiate its contracts with international oil companies, the Oil Ministry is unlikely to allow a full transition to the production sharing contract (PSC) model often favored by the industry.Oil Minister Adil Abd al-Mahdi said he does want to improve the existing technical service contracts (TSCs) to better harmonize the incentives of the companies and the government, and to ensure that all sides share equitably in both the risks and rewards of oil price swings."I do…

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Tankers dock at the Al-Basra Oil Terminal, the principal export point for Iraqi oil. (BEN LANDO/Iraq Oil Report) Recommend 315 people recommend this. Sign Up to see what your friends recommend. Iraq is preparing to upgrade the way it markets and exports oil from Basra in an effort to maximize revenues and combat a crippling financial crisis.The country has typically sold a single grade of crude, "Basra Light," from all of its southern export outlets. But now Iraq is planning to market a second grade, "Basra Heavy," which will allow the country to sell oil from more fields without compromising the quality of most exports."We announced that we will sell two [grades]," said Fala…

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Iraq’s Oil Ministry and international oil companies are moving toward a shared vision on contract changes that will mitigate the impact of low oil prices and increase profits but will not be production sharing contracts, Iraqi oil minister Adil Abd al-Mahdi said on Sunday. The ministry has asked IOCs that have signed technical service contracts to recommend changes to the deals. The contracts are currently more expensive to the state, the minister said. In addition, they have a very quick cost-recovery process, which places a burden on the state at a time of low oil prices, he added. The cost recovery and remuneration fee payments are made in oil, which essentially means Iraq owes double the amount of oil to IOCs than it did a year ago when prices were twice today’s level. IOCs have complained of lagging in-kind nomination schedules, and both sides are worried of what the […]

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Iran is not a sectarian actor, but Tehran still needs to prove it. Its involvement in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is a good opportunity to do so. Iran’s ability to constrain and control Shia militias in the ongoing offensive in Tikrit, Iraq, will determine how Iraqis, regional powers and the rest of the international community view Iran and its policies. If the widely shared fear of a backlash against Sunnis in Iraq materializes, Iran will continue to be a player in the sectarian game despite itself. Iraq’s stability is an important concern for Iranians, who still remember the two countries’ devastating eight-year war in the 1980s. Iran sees ISIL as a grave threat in its backyard. After initial hesitation over the extent of the ISIL threat, Tehran has transformed the group’s menace into an opportunity. Tehran is providing the Iraqi army […]

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