Author: Editor

Posted on

New Gas Treatment Station opened at Bazirgan Field

By John Lee.

Oil Minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi [Allibi, Luiebi] has opened a gas treatment station at the Bazirgan field in Maysan [Missan] governorate.

The celebration was also attended the members of the parliament, the deputies of the ministry, the directors general and the responsible officials of the ministry, the local government and the governorate.

Mr. Al-Luiebi said that the gas investment is a real priority for the ministry of oil to stop wasting the oil wealth and to develop the gas industry in Iraq.

Mr. Al-Luiebi said in his speech during the celebration that the gas treatment project is designed to process two million standard cubic meters of associated gas which means (71) MSCF/ day. The processed quantities of gas will be used to operate the (44) megawatts Maysan power station, in order to operate the production units and facilities in the oil fields and supply the surplus to the national power stations with an average of (60) megawatts.

Mr. Al-Luiebi said also:

“We are standing today before and economic edifice and a new accomplishment achieved by the faithful sons of Iraq in general and Maysan in special, and this project is a part of the strategic significant plans of the ministry of oil to invest the associated gas and make use of it in the industry of liquid gas and condensed gas which has become a good economic source of outcome to the federal governmental budget, through the exportation which is being done since two years. In addition to the outcome of the crude oil exportation”.

Mr. Al-Luiebi referred to the accomplishments of the ministry in the sectors of production, exportation and gas industry, which was made through the investment projects by cooperation with the national effort and the international specialized companies. In “dear Maysan” there was many accomplishments, such as the elevation of the oil production to about (480) thousand barrels/ day which can be considered as a big achievement to the governorate within a record time of a few years.

The development projects are continuous in the fields of the company and it is expected to finish the third treatment station in Halfaya field within the end of this year with capacity of (200) thousand barrels/ day to elevate the production from the field to (400) thousand barrels, and elevate the production of the company.

The representative of the Chinese company Inpal said that the project was executed according to the international standards within 18 months and will ensure the investment of large gas quantities to be used in the power station turbines in the field and the national power network.

(Source: Ministry of Oil)

Posted on

Expert Blog: How Procurement Influences Production

By Elena Kornienko.

In the previous blog post we have talked about Procurement’s role within organization and today I will share with you one more story when Procurement could’ve done a job of SuperMan but end up with selecting a wrong subcontractor and that choice made a tremendous impact on production.

At the beginning of 2018 Tesla’s share price fall 20% from last year’s all-time high. What is the story behind it and how we – people involved with Oil and Gas in Iraq – can related to it? In 2017 Tesla forecasted the production of 5,000 Model 3 sedans and in the last quarter it announced that it had made 2,500.  It was a “production hell” and one of the factors to it was Procurement’s fault for choosing a sub-contractor which did not perform. As a result, billions of dollars in stock value was lost.

What can we, procurement professionals in the oil and gas industry, learn from this story?

First of all, no matter how big or small a purchase order, it should be assessed against criticality for oil production. It might be a relatively small and standard valve, however if that is to be installed on a critical part of a pipeline, it could impact the operation of the whole line. This is where I see Procurement and Production/Operation teams working together as one team which is still unfortunately a rare case.

Another important question is the pre-qualification of contractors and suppliers. Not all IOC’s in Iraq perform pre-qualification as it should be done based on best industry practises. Some IOCs have a simple registration process which is based on data collection only, some IOCs run a bit more sophisticated process which is still have a room for improvement.

What is still not understood and appreciated in pre-qualification process is that based on selecting qualified bidders in a first place would improve the quality of tender submissions as well as create healthy price competition between companies which are of the same expertise level.

It is wrongly assumed that having more bidders in one tender would increase the chances of having more competitive offers. In reality un-qualified or even not capable bidders participate in tenders barely passing technical evaluation, getting a contract and trying to execute it, while qualified top performers were not even invited to bid.

Selection of technically capable contractors is another challenge which directly impact Production. It is related not only to pre-qualification process, but also to setting right technical evaluation criteria during tender exercise. In my years of experience in Procurement I have seen it in extreme angles – from being very formal to criteria set to being flexible in evaluation. Both approaches can bring harm in contactor selection if not used correctly and balanced.

One of the extreme examples which I witnessed myself just recently: all bidders were requested to provide a list of at least 3 projects of a similar nature performed in 2014-2017 and the Operator did not accept a list of projects from one bidders which were performed in 2012-2016, while that bidder still demonstrated their capabilities and expertise in this area.

These areas are just a top of an iceberg in Procurement world and we will be covering more of them in the blog posts. In a mean time I have two questions: Firstly, what if Tesla selected technically capable contractor and delivered on projected number of vehicles? The answer is straightforward – no loss in the value of shares. And what if IOCs in Iraq would always use the best international practises on contractor selection? The answer is also straightforward – more competitive costs of contracts and no delay or loss of oil production, which has a direct impact of Iraq’s budget.

Elena Kornienko has more than 15 years of professional experience in contracts, procurement and tendering in various roles from demand-identification to contract close-out. She has worked on major international oil and gas projects, including the Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 fields in Russia, and Iraq’s West Qurna-2. Now based in Dubai, she provides consultancy services to the oil and gas industry. Elena is a fluent English and Russian speaker, and a graduate of the Moscow State University of Commerce, holding a degree in Economics. She also graduated with distinction from the School of Business Administration at Portland State University and holds a CIPS diploma.

Posted on

Baker Hughes to harness Flare Gas at Gharraf & Nassiriya

By John Lee.

Baker Hughes has signed a contract to harness 200 MMcf/d of natural gas from Iraq’s Nassiriya and Gharraf oil fields.

The Nassiriya field is operated by the state-run Dhi Qar Oil Company (DQOC) and currently producing around 70,000 barrels per day of crude oil, with a target of 150,000 bpd.

Gharraf is operated by Petronas and is producing around 88,000 bpd with a plateau production target of 250,000 bpd.

(Sources: Minister of Oil, Platts)

Posted on

Al-Nukhba-OFS joins the IBBC

The Iraq Britain Business Council (IBBC) has announced that Al-Nukhba-OFS FZCO has become the latest member to join the Council.

Al-Nukhba OFS is one of Iraq’s preeminent organisations, involved in numerous sectors of the economy with many years of experience and has developed strong relationships with a host of international companies.

Al Nukhba OFS started its business in 2005 as an investor in the Basra area in the specialized fields and expanded business areas in water and wastewater treatment plants and pre-drilling oil field services, logistics & custom clearance and oil field services.

Al Nukhba OFS provides services such as end-to-end logistics solutions and services along with of value added services to customize your supply chain to meet your precise goals and requirements. Their dedicated teams select and apply the exact resources you need to improve your business’s performance and provide flexibility for a dynamic marketplace.

Al Nukhba OFS has relationships with major companies for energy projects and has a contract with the Ministry of Electricity, Iraq and hold an exclusive HCL distribution contract with the Ministry of Industry & Minerals for AL Furat Factory. Al Nukhba is cooperating with major power companies i.e. Ansaldo Energia to develop the power sectors in Iraq and have strong support from Wood Group P&W through their Iraq Agent for the development of power section as well.

Al-Nukhba OFS are associated with numerous notable companies, such as Baker Hughes, ENKA, Eni, Scania, Daewoo, Petromid, KOGAS, Techno Engineering, TAAZ, Oilserv. Al-Nukhba OFS have successfully completed a number of projects for them, including mobilization/maintenance of RIG, Logistics and other life support services, Surveillance, Fuel & Manpower supply, Distribution & Warehousing, Camp & Site Preparation/Maintenance besides 4PL logistics and other subcontracting jobs and provide immigration services too.

Al-Nukhba OFS currently act as an agent, supplier and distributor for:

  • Parker Trade Link International (A Supply Chain Management Company)
  • Chesterton
  • Bentonite, Calcium Carbonate and other minerals for all varieties
  • Power Generator
  • Nystrom Building Materials

(Source: IBBC)

Posted on

235-MW Rumaila Power Station Opened

By John Lee.

Oil Minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi [Allibi, Luiebi] has officially opened the Rumaila power station.

The construction of the 235 MW plant was supervised by the China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corporation (CPECC), the engineering and construction subsidiary of the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

The Minister said the project is considered as one of the largest projects organized by the Rumaila Operating Organization (ROO), which includes Basrah Oil Company (BOC), BP and PetroChina.

(Source: Ministry of Oil)

Posted on

Oil Exports Fall Slightly in March

By John Lee.

Iraq’s Ministry of Oil has announced preliminary oil exports for March of 107,050,000 barrels, giving an average for the month of 3.453 million barrels per day (bpd), a slight increase from the 3.426 bpd exported in February.

The exports were entirely from the southern terminals, with no exports registered from Kirkuk via Ceyhan.

Revenues for the month were  $6.418 billion at an average price of $59.954 per barrel.

February export figures can be found here.

(Source: Ministry of Oil)

Posted on

Power-sharing deal could end dispute over Kirkuk Elections

By Omar Sattar for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. 

For the first time since 2005, Kirkuk governorate in Iraq will hold elections Dec. 22 to select its local governing council. Parliament included the multiethnic province of the Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens in the provincial election law approved March 3.

The decision follows an agreement among the three groups’ representatives in parliament and was greatly welcomed by all segments, especially the Kurds, who for years have demanded that elections be held in Kirkuk. Khalid al-Mafraji, an Arab parliament member from Kirkuk, told Al-Monitor that negotiations took more than a year.

The agreement binds the Independent High Electoral Commission to review voters’ records in coordination with the ministries of Interior, Commerce, Planning and Health. If they aren’t able to review the records before the elections, the commission will be obliged to undertake an audit within six months after the elected council begins its work.

“The most important articles of the agreement relate to sharing power,” Mafraji said. The largest bloc in the election will appoint the governor, and the two deputy positions will go to the other two groups. Moreover, federal positions will be determined by the governorate’s residents, according to party size. The agreement also states that the constitution and the law take precedence over the governorate’s council, parliament and the federal government.

The electoral law will remain in effect for four years. Shakhawan Abdullah, who represents Kirkuk in the Kurdistan Democratic Party in parliament, told Al-Monitor, “The agreement between the three components of Kirkuk’s governorate will be effective for only one electoral round, and the elections will not be held in the same way in four years’ time.”

Abdullah believes the provincial election law presents a good opportunity to resolve conflicts in the governorate and give it more administrative powers, like other governorates. The governorate has gone without elections all these years for various reasons. Oil-rich Kirkuk is a disputed area claimed by both the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in Erbil. Its situation is also unique because of its ethnic diversity and disagreements among them.

The constitution stipulates the conflicts in the governorate must be normalized in three stages. The first stage is to allow the return of displaced Kurds and Arabs who emigrated during the regime of deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

The second stage is to carry out a population census, and the last stage is to hold a general referendum on whether Kirkuk should become a new region, like the autonomous Kurdistan Region, or be annexed to the Kurdistan Region.

All of those procedures were to be carried out before 2007, which wasn’t done. This caused political conflict, partly because of the disagreement between Baghdad and the KRG over having elected authorities with the right to control the governorate’s future.

The Kurdistan independence referendum in September, which included Kirkuk, ended in crisis, and the central government subsequently took over the governorate and cut the Kurds’ authority. The coming elections will give Baghdad and the KRG a chance to solve the current dispute over Kirkuk’s administration.

However, the most important problem that may affect holding elections in Kirkuk is the agreement on a unified record of voters, which may raise doubts about the election results. Iraq hasn’t conducted a census in decades. Ali Khalil, the Arab bloc member of the governorate council, told Al-Monitor that Arabs weren’t in favor of the agreement’s clause that allows an audit to be delayed until after the elections if records can’t be reviewed before then.

“How would we elect a new governorate council while doubting voters’ records at the same time?” Khalil asked.

The Kirkuk local elections will provide a chance to reduce tension in the governorate, a good way to determine the real size of each of the three ethnic groups and a way to form a more legitimate administration — but it could lead to negative results. If one segment is counted and found to have significantly fewer representatives than before, that segment might refuse to accept the election results.

Posted on

KBR, Anton Oil to replace Shell at Majnoon?

By John Lee.

According to a report from Platts, the Iraqi oil ministry is about to award two management contracts to replace Shell at the Majnoon oil field.

Sources say the state-run Basra Oil Company (BOC) has opted to operate the field instead of replacing Shell, and junior partner Petronas, which announced last year it was relinquishing its 2010 technical service contract.

They added that KBR will play a project management consultant role, while China’s Anton Oil will handle production operations and management, ch after the recent oil price decline — which altered the financial equation for the contract.

More here from Platts.

(Source: Platts)

Posted on

IOCs scramble to analyze new Contract Model

Iraq is giving international oil companies (IOCs) just two weeks to evaluate a new contract model that will serve as the basis of an upcoming bidding round for 11 oil exploration and development projects.

The Oil Ministry has set April 15 as the deadline for companies to submit bids, according to Abdul Mahdy al-Ameedi, director general of the Petroleum Contracts and Licensing Directorate (PCLD), who presided over a briefing for IOCs at the ministry Thursday to outline the contract model and bidding process.

More here from Iraq Oil Report (subscription required).

Posted on

GKP appoints new Non-Exec Chairman

Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) has announced the appointment of Jacobus (“Jaap”) Huijskes as Non-Executive Chairman effective as of 11 April 2018, immediately following the announcement of the Company’s 2017 Full Year Results.  

Jaap Huijskes, who replaces Keith Lough as Chairman, joined the Board of Gulf Keystone in November 2017 as a Non-Executive Director.  Today’s news follows the January 2018 announcement of Mr Lough’s intention to step down from the Board.  Mr Huijskes selection was the result of a process undertaken by the Nominations Committee and was unanimously supported by the Board. 

Jaap Huijskes has had a distinguished career in the oil and gas sector, including relevant experience in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.  He was most recently a Director at OMV (AG:OMV), the largest listed Austrian oil and gas company, where he was responsible for Exploration and Production (E&P) and oversaw the Company’s expansion into new territories.  He also played a key role in OMV’s operations in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. 

Prior to this, Mr Huijskes held a number of senior positions at Shell, including Executive Vice President of Upstream Major Projects and Project Director at the Sakhalin Energy Investment Company, which was set up to develop the Sakhalin-II oil and gas project in Russia.  He holds a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands. 

In addition to serving on the Board of Gulf Keystone, Mr Huijskes is currently Non-Executive Chairman of the Dutch state-owned integrated oil and gas company, Energie Beheer Nederland. He was a member of OMV’s Executive Board for E&P between 2010 and 2016.

Commenting on today’s announcement, Jaap Huijskes, said:

“I am delighted to have been selected to take on the Non-Executive Chairman role.  Gulf Keystone has a strong investment case, underpinned by a great asset and management team. 

“With recent positive progress, including the signing of the important Shaikan Crude Oil Sales Agreement, we are looking forward to recommencing investment into the field and generating value for our investors, as well as the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.  I look forward to leading the Board and supporting the Company at this exciting time.

“On behalf of the Board and everyone at GKP, I would like to thank Keith Lough for his leadership and significant contribution to the business over the past two years.  It was a challenging period for the Company and we are grateful for his hard work and wise counsel.  We wish him the very best for the future.”   

(Source: GKP)