Cursor International executes projects and collaboration activities across several industries.
By John Lee.
Italy’s Saipem has been awarded a contract by ExxonMobil Iraq Limited for the DS6 project for the debottlenecking of the West Qurna field, in the south east of Iraq.
Debottlenecking is a process that optimises a plant in order to increase its overall capacity.
The works will have a duration of 23 months and will mainly be executed in the Rumaila fabrication yard, owned by Saipem.
(Source: Saipem)
(Picture: Saipem chief executive, Stefano Cao)
By John Lee.
Protestors took to the streets of Basra for the fourth day on Wednesday, protesting the killing of a demonstrator by security forces, and demanding jobs and public services.
According to AFP, protesters also blocked the road leading to the oilfields of West Qurna, while international oil companies (IOCs) have reportedly moved senior staff out of the area for their security.
On Tuesday, the Cabinet approved measures to improve the delivery of essential public services in Basra province, with a focus on improving the supply of electricity to homes and businesses.
It also “instructed Iraq’s embassies, consulates and all border entry points to apply new visa and residency fees for foreign nationals seeking to enter Iraq“.
The Cabinet voted to establish a specialist committee staffed by teams from the Planning and the Construction & Housing Ministries to assess the value of resuming several incomplete or suspended projects, and instructed the Ministry of Finance to speed up the allocation of funds for projects that are deemed suitable for completion.
Meanwhile, Oil Minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi [Allibi, Luiebi] ordered “secondary contractor companies in West Qurna oil field to provide new jobs for the citizens of the neighbor towns near to the field“, and to “provide additional jobs for the citizens of Shatt Al-Arab district and the other towns“.
“Otherwise“, he added, “the Ministry will take the appropriate procedures towards the companies that violates the directions“.
(Sources: AFP, Iraqi Cabinet, Ministry of Oil)
(Picture credit: Ahmed Mahmoud)
By John Lee.
Having sold its stake in the West Qurna 1 project to Japan’s Itochu, Shell is now said to be “fully committed” to the giant Basra Gas Company (BGC), which captures gas from Iraq’s southern oilfields.
Frits Klap, managing director of BGC, told Reuters that processing capacity has more than tripled to 938 million standard cubic feet (scf) per day since operations started in 2013, and further expansion is planned:
“We are going to go for something called BNGL, or Basra NGL (natural gas liquids) expansion, which really is going to take us from 1 bcf to 1.4 bcf through two trains, each of 200 million scf per day.”
Shell has a 44-percent stake in the $17-billion, 25-year project, with Iraq having 51 percent, and Japan’s Mitsubishi 5 percent.
(Source: Reuters)
Shell EP Middle East Holdings B.V. has agreed to sell the entire share capital of Shell Iraq B.V (SIBV), which holds its 19.6% stake in the West Qurna 1 oil field, for $406 million, to a subsidiary of Japan’s Itochu Corporation.
The purchaser will also assume debt of $144 million as part of the transaction. The sale has received the necessary regulatory consent, is expected to complete in the next few days, and has an effective date of 31 December 2015.
Since joining the project in 2009, Shell has enjoyed successful cooperation with its partners in the West Qurna 1 venture, which will continue to be operated by ExxonMobil.
Shell’s Upstream Director, Andy Brown (pictured), said:
“Iraq is an important country for the Shell Group, and exiting West Qurna 1 allows us to focus our resources on other assets in our Iraq portfolio. We are grateful for the support of the Iraqi government during the divestment process.
“Shell remains committed to working with its partners to redevelop Iraq’s energy infrastructure by capturing associated gas, through the Basrah Gas Company (BGC) Joint Venture, for domestic and regional consumption.
“This deal maintains the momentum behind Shell’s $30bn divestment programme and is in line with the drive to simplify our upstream portfolio and reshape the company into a world class investment.”
Shell’s other businesses in the country will not be affected by this divestment.
(Source: Shell)
By John Lee.
Japan’s Itochu has reportedly bought Shell‘s 20 percent stake in the West Qurna 1 oilfield.
Ihsan Abdul Jabbar, the head of state-run Basra Oil Company (BOC), told Reuters that the oil ministry discussed the required financial investments and operations at the field with Itochu, and approved the deal.
West Qurna 1, operated by ExxonMobil, currently produces around 405,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
The deal comes as Shell is also preparing to exit the Majnoon oilfield, handing it over to the BOC by the end of June 2018.
(Source: Reuters)