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Iraqi Government and Kurds Reach Deal to Share Oil Revenues

BAGHDAD — The Iraqi government agreed Tuesday to a long-term accord with the autonomous Kurdish region to share the country’s oil wealth and military resources in a far-reaching deal that helps reunite the country in the face of a bitter war with Islamic extremists. The deal settles a long dispute between Baghdad and Erbil, the Kurdish capital in the north, over oil revenue and budget payments. It is also likely to halt a drive — at least in the short term — by the Kurds for an independent state, which appeared imminent this summer after a violent territory grab by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. As the jihadists marched toward Baghdad in June, routing Iraqi Army forces, the Kurds took control of Kirkuk and its rich oil fields. And they intensified efforts to market Kurdish oil independently, arguing that the government had withheld payments to […]

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Iranian jets attack Isis in eastern Iraq

A US official late on Tuesday all but confirmed reports that Iran has conducted air strikes against Islamist militants in eastern Iraq in recent days, but declined to confirm whether Washington and Tehran had co-operated. Military experts believe it is the first confirmation that Iran’s ageing air force has attacked the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant , known as Isis, since the west began operations against the insurgency forces several months ago, news agencies reported. More On this topic IN Middle East & North Africa Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, told reporters the US was not collaborating with Iran and that it was up to Iraq to ensure Tehran’s actions did not clash with those by the US and its allies. Jane’s Defence Weekly , the defence publication, on Sunday identified what its experts described as an Iranian McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom captured in video […]

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Islamic State: Kerry says group ‘significantly’ damaged

Analysts said Al Jazeera footage showed an Iranian F4 Phantom jet over Iraq (Photo courtesy of Al Jazeera) Air strikes carried out by the US-led collation on Islamic State (IS) have inflicted "significant" damage on the group’s capabilities, US Secretary of State John Kerry says. Mr Kerry said the campaign against the militant group could take years, but that the coalition would remain engaged "as long as it takes". The US said earlier that Iran, not a coalition member, had carried out air strikes against IS in Iraq. However, Iran has denied this. The US said there had been no coordination with the Iranians on any air strikes. IS controls large areas of Syria and Iraq, imposing a rigid version of Sunni Islam and persecuting or killing non-believers. Analysis: Jonathan Marcus, BBC News The reported Iranian air strikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq underscore that while Iran and […]

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Iraq Agrees on Kurdistan Oil Deal

Tuesday’s agreement is testament to the new national unity forged under Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider… ENLARGE Tuesday’s agreement is testament to the new national unity forged under Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. Reuters The Iraq government has agreed on an oil export deal with the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, according to Iraqi state television and a Kurdish lawmaker, potentially ending a years-long political impasse that has divided the country. Under the new agreement, which comes into effect on Jan. 1, Kurdistan will export 250,000 barrels of oil a day while the disputed province of Kirkuk will sell 300,000 barrels a day, said Abdel Qadr Mohammed, a Kurdish member of the Iraqi parliament’s finance committee, who participated in the negotiations. Both regions would export through Iraq’s national oil company, the State Organization for Marketing of Oil, or SOMO. It marks a victory for Iraq’s central government which has long sought […]

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Kurdish fighters retake five Iraqi villages from ISIL

Kurdish fighters say they have taken over five key villages from Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIL)  fighters. These villages, located in an area known as Gweir and Makhmour, 28 miles to the south of Erbil, have been changing hands for months.  Iraq’s army, backed by Shia and Kurdish fighters and U.S.-led air strikes that started in August, have made some gains against ISIL, pushing back its advance into Kurdish territory. The army last week recaptured towns in Diyala province, on the road from Baghdad to Iran. At least 50 fighters of the ISIL have also been killed in the past 24 hours in Syria’s Kobane, Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the biggest loss endured by the group since it launched its assault on the strategic border city on Sept. 16. ISIL had hoped to quickly seize the small border town and secure its grip on a large […]

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Oil Price Drop After OPEC Decision Is ‘Terrible’: Iraq Minister

The plunge in crude prices after OPEC’s decision to keep its production ceiling unchanged is “terrible,” according to Iraq ’s oil minister. Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell the most in more than three years after the 12-member group completed talks and traded at $72.50 a barrel in London today. That’s 29 percent less than the $102.20 Iraq needs to balance its budget, according to International Monetary Fund estimates. “We are trying to follow up what is going on, then we will assess the whole issue,” Oil Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said in an interview today in Vienna. “I already had a meeting with my team. We will try to put the right policy to face the situation.” Iraq is the second-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which left its daily output target unchanged at 30 million barrels yesterday. The group considered a cut of 5 […]

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Kirkuk oil facilities damaged in IS battle

The crude pipeline on fire after sabotaged during Tel al-Waridd fights on Nov. 26. (KAMARAN AL-NAJAR/Iraq Oil Report) A pipeline to the Baiji refinery was ablaze amidst a barrage of artillery fired by militants of the so-called Islamic State (IS) as they battled coalition forces in contested areas southwest of Kirkuk. IS militants launched their attacks late Tuesday and into Wednesday, battling Kurdish Peshmerga forces and facing air strikes by coalition planes. In the morning raid, IS militants took control of the Tel al-Warid and Maktab Khaled villages, 20 kilometers southwest of Kirkuk city, according to…

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Genel CEO Sees Merger Shakeout Among Kurdistan Oil Producers

The number of oil producers in Kurdistan will slump by three-quarters in five years with the biggest in the industry taking control in the region, according to Genel Energy Plc (GENL) Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward. “It’s likely that we’ll end up with, perhaps, five or six of the largest companies operating, with Genel, Exxon, Chevron ending up as major operators,” Hayward said in a Nov. 21 interview during the Atlantic Council conference in Istanbul. “It’s what happens in most hydrocarbon provinces.” ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) , Chevron Corp. (CVX) and DNO ASA (DNO) of Norway are among more than two dozen international oil companies with a combined 35 licenses in the Kurdish Regional Government area. The companies export about 350,000 barrels a day of crude, pumping it through a Turkish pipeline to the Mediterranean. Genel has spent more than $1 billion since 2012 on acquisitions in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq […]

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Iraqi troops retake 2 towns in eastern province

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi troops backed by Shiite militiamen and Kurdish security forces recaptured two towns seized previously by militants in an eastern province, said Iraqi officials on Monday, a new victory for Iraqi security forces in their attempt to regain areas lost to the militants. Police officials in Diyala province said that Iraqi forces entered the towns of Saadiya and Jalula late Sunday after fierce clashes with fighters from the Islamic State group. The fighting is still continuing with some pockets of resistance outside the two towns, said the police officials. Teams defusing unexploded ordnance are working to defuse roadside bombs planted in the streets by the militants before their withdrawal. Some families that fled the area have already started to come back to their homes in the two towns. Kurdish security forces, known also as peshmerga took part in the fighting against the IS group in both […]

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