Cursor International executes projects and collaboration activities across several industries.
By John Lee.
Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi [Allibi, Luiebi] (pictured) has announced that the Kirkuk-Baiji-Baghdad pipeline is now operational.
According to a statement from the Ministry, the 16-inch crude oil pipeline was completed in record time.
Running for 180 kilometers, the pipeline will supply the refineries of Baiji and Daura, and the Quds power station in the north of Baghdad, at a rate of 40,000 barrels per day (bpd).
(Source: Ministry of Oil)
As part of the XXII St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Rosneft and the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq signed an agreement securing the intention of the Parties to make a detailed analysis of potential gas cooperation options.
The Parties ensure stepwise implementation of the arrangements following the Investment Agreement signed at the XXI St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Rosneft will focus its analysis on how to participate in the integrated gas business value chain in the region in order to extract maximum efficiency from investments and operations in such areas as exploration and production, transportation and trading with especial attention given to partnership and project (third party) financing options.
Under the Agreement the Parties will elaborate an integral plan to progress the gas business within the Kurdish Region of Iraq. One step in this plan is the conduct of a pre-FEED of Iraqi Kurdistan’s gas pipeline construction and operation.
This is a key project to the monetization of the exploration and production opportunities Rosneft has been evaluating since signing a Gas Cooperation Agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq at the 10th Eurasian Economic Forum in Verona on 19 October 2017.
Following the outcomes of the integral development plan in terms of the attractiveness and efficiency of the options, Rosneft will decide on how to participate in the regional gas business.
(Source: Rosneft)
By John Lee.
Sharjah-based Ducorr has reportedly completed the design and deployment of a cathodic protection system for Shell’s Majnoon oil field.
Construction Week Online quotes company sources as saying that the flowlines were buried in very corrosive soil, hence the need for protection.
(Source: Construction Week Online)
By John Lee.
Iraq could transport up to a million barrels of oil per day through the Jordanian port of Aqaba (pictured), according to a report from The National.
Ali Nazar Faeq Al Shatari, deputy director general for the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) told The National:
“That project is still in place and we’re going to go ahead with it. We need another outlet for our crude oil,”
There has been little detail on the scheme’s timeline for completion or the scope of the project.
(Source: The National)
Iran’s Oil Ministry linked a 4-month delay in the implementation of an oil swap deal with Iraq to the Arab country’s unpreparedness and technical problems.
In a letter to the Tasnim News Agency in response to a recent report on the lengthy delay in implementation of the oil swap deal with Iraq, Iran’s Oil Ministry said the problem lies in the Arab country’s failure to remove the obstacles.
“The slight delay in implementing the major deal on swapping the crude oil produced in northern Iraq is mainly because of unprepared infrastructures and some logistical deficiencies on Iraq’s part,” the letter read.
It said the oil swap operation will begin soon, dismissing reports on “oil diplomacy negligence” or secret issues being behind the delay.
In February 2017, Iraq’s Oil Ministry said it had signed a deal with Iran to carry out studies on the construction of a pipeline to export crude oil from the northern Iraqi fields of Kirkuk via Iran.
In December, the two neighbors finalized the agreement, according to which Iran would provide Iraq’s southern ports with oil of the same characteristics and in the same quantities as those it would receive from Kirkuk.
Between 30,000 and 60,000 bpd of Kirkuk crude will be delivered by tanker trucks to the border area of Kermanshah, where Iran has a refinery.
The two countries are planning to build a pipeline to carry the oil from Kirkuk, so as to avoid trucking the crude.
(Source: Tasnim, under Creative Commons licence)
By John Lee.
A new report from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy says that Iraqi hydrocarbons “will either be exploited by Iran and its allies or used for Iraq’s own benefit, transforming the country into an energy export hub between the Gulf states, Turkey, and Europe. The United States has a strong strategic interest in promoting the latter outcome.”
Authors James F. Jeffrey, a former US ambassador to Iraq and Turkey, and Michael Knights, who has worked extensively on energy projects inside Iraq, suggest that the US should put its weight behind a north-south energy corridor in which Iraq serves as an energy hub between ever-friendlier Gulf states and Turkey, ultimately forming an export bridge to Europe.
They add that Washington should also support the Basra-Haditha-Aqaba pipeline project to bring Iraqi oil and gas to Jordan.
The full paper can be read here.
(Source: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy)
By Padraig O’Hannelly.
Iraq’s Ministry of Oil is to establish a Gas Pipeline Company (GPC), which shall perform the functions of the Gas-to-Power Aggregator, by the end of this month.
According to documents obtained by Iraq Business News, the Director General of the Gas Pipeline Company will be appointed by the Council of Ministers based on the recommendation of the Minister of Oil and the relevant deputy minister.
By June 30, 2018, the GPC is to set up a website on which it will publish a description of the entire network, “planned expansions of the network, monthly utilization of capacity by Public Sector Shippers in the most recent full calendar year and in the current calendar year through the latest available date, and anticipated utilization of capacity by Public Sector Shippers in the following three calendar years.”
The current operators of the network are the Oil Pipeline Company of the Ministry of Oil and Basrah Oil Company (BOC); it is anticipated that they will transfer their gas and NGL transportation activities to the Gas Pipeline Company.
The GPC will initially act as both Gas Aggregator and operator of the network. These activities will be separated over time; it is anticipated that the GPC will remain the exclusive operator of the network for a considerable period of time, although it may enter into joint arrangements with or obtain financing from private sector operators or shippers. Additional operators may in the future take responsibility for segments of the network.
Detailed documents can be downloaded here.
(Picture credit: Shana)
By John Lee.
Jordan has reportedly approved an agreement with Iraq to build a twin gas and oil pipeline between the two countries.
The 1,680-km double pipeline will pump one million barrels of oil a day, and 258 million cubic feet of gas, from Basra to Aqaba.
About 150,000 barrels of the oil from Iraq is needed to meet Jordan’s needs. The rest will be exported through Aqaba, generating about three billion U.S. dollars a year in revenues to Jordan, according to the ministry.
An agreement will be signed soon by the Energy Ministries of both countries.
(Source: Xinhua)
Iraq’s Ministry of Oil has invited local and international companies to participate in the execution of the oil export pipeline extension, which extends from the Kirkuk oilfield to the Iraqi-Turkish border, and will run side-by-side with the old strategic pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan (pictured).
Mr. Assim Jihad, the spokesman of the Ministry of Oil, said that the pipeline will run for over 350 kilometers, and will be 48 inches in diameter.
It will be able to transport 1 million barrels per day (bpd) and will be built on a BOOT basis investment method, which includes the construction, property, operation and property transfer.
The government and the ministry does not bare or pay any money or spending over the project at the current time, but after the operation.
The project includes also the construction of a gas pipeline, pumps and reservoirs, in addition to the other completed accessories and services. The contract also commits the winner consortium companies to share with the local companies with 25% or more of the project proportion within the consortium.
Mr. Jihad said also that the oil projects company have determined the 24th of January 2018 as the last date for the companies to present their participation letter.
(Source: Ministry of Oil)
By John Lee.
Oil Minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi [Allibi, Luiebi] has called on his Ministry draw up plans to build a new system to protect Iraq’s pipelines network using new technology including drones.
New monitoring systems and advanced cameras will also feature in the scheme, which is due start in the first quarter of 2018.
(Source: Ministry of Oil)