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By John Lee.
Sonatrach, the state-owned Algerian energy company, is to form a joint venture with Iraq to cooperate in the harvesting of associated flare gas.
The will be used for power generation, and in the production of petrochemicals and fertilizers.
The deal was agreed during a visit by Algerian Energy Minister Mustapha Guitouni to Baghdad.
(Source: Oil Ministry)
By John Lee.
Iraq’s Petroleum Contracts and Licensing Directorate (PCLD) has announced the five additional companies have been approved to bid for Iraq’s “borderline onshore & offshore exploration blocks & fields.”
The companies are listed as:
Eight companies had applied for approval.
The five successful companies will be eligible to compete along with the following companies which are qualified from previous licensing rounds:
The areas to be offered include the onshore exploration blocks of Khudher Al-Mai, Jebel Sanam (Jabal Sanam) and Umm-Qasr on the Kuwaiti border; the Sindbad, Huwaiza, Shihabi, Zurbatia and Naft Khana blocks on the Iranian border; and the offshore exploration blocks in the Iraqi regional waters of the Arab gulf.
The bidding process should commence in May, according to the following schedule:
(Source: Oil Ministry)
By John Lee.
Iraq’s Petroleum Contracts and Licensing Directorate (PCLD) has announced the five additional companies have been approved to bid for Iraq’s “borderline onshore & offshore exploration blocks & fields.”
The companies are listed as:
Eight companies had applied for approval.
The five successful companies will be eligible to compete along with the following companies which are qualified from previous licensing rounds:
The areas to be offered include the onshore exploration blocks of Khudher Al-Mai, Jebel Sanam (Jabal Sanam) and Umm-Qasr on the Kuwaiti border; the Sindbad, Huwaiza, Shihabi, Zurbatia and Naft Khana blocks on the Iranian border; and the offshore exploration blocks in the Iraqi regional waters of the Arab gulf.
The bidding process should commence in May, according to the following schedule:
(Source: Oil Ministry)
By John Lee.
Malaysia’s Petronas has reportedly confirmed that it will exit from Iraq’s Majnoon oil field along with joint stakeholder Shell.
A spokeswoman for Petronas told The National:
“Petronas confirms its exit from the Majnoon oilfield, Iraq, together with Shell. We will be working with Shell on the handover of the field to the Basra Oil Company [BOC].
“An announcement will be made once details of the handover is finalised.“
Petronas holds a 30-percent stake in the field, with Shell having 45 percent.
On 21st December, Iraq’s Ministry of Oil approved a set of measures relating to the development of the super giant field once Shell relingushes it back to Iraq; IBN Expert Blogger Ahmed Mousa Jiyad described the decision as “an important move in the right direction“.
Petronas retains interests in the Badra, Garraf, Halfaya oilfields.
(Source: The National)
By John Lee.
The Iraqi parliament has reportedly banned Erbil-based Kar Group from operating oil fields in Kirkuk.
According to Rudaw, it assigned the state-owned North Oil Company (NOC) to take over oil production in the province and export it through Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO).
Reuters reports that Kar Group had been operating some of the Kirkuk oilfields since Kurdish Peshmerga forces took control of the city in 2014, following the retreat of the Iraqi army in the face of so-called Islamic State (IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh).
It is said to have failed to reach agreement with Baghdad after Iraqi forces re-took the area.
The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) claims that the Khurmala field, part of the Kirkuk oilfields, is located inside its boundaries.
(Sources: Rudaw, Reuters)
By Salam Zidane for Al Monitor. Any views expressed here are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.
Iraq has much to gain from gas-supply pact with Kuwait
Kuwait will begin importing natural gas from neighboring Iraq this year, a development welcomed in Baghdad as it could improve Iraq’s relations with the Gulf countries — relations that ruptured when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990.
Most of Iraq’s gas is associated petroleum gas, also known as flare gas. Associated petroleum gas is a byproduct of oil production, as opposed to natural gas that comes directly from gas reservoirs in the ground.
The Iraqi Ministry of Oil has decided to export associated petroleum gas from international oil companies operating in southern Iraq to Kuwait via a gas pipeline near Basra. Kuwait would then turn it into dry gas, condensates and liquid gas, among other types. According to the Ministry of Oil, Iraq flares 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas daily.
Ministry spokesman Assem Jihad told Al-Monitor, “Iraq will export to Kuwait the associated gas, part of which is flared on a daily basis. Processing natural gas is a complex and expensive industrial process that requires building plants through local and foreign companies.”
Jihad said, “Iraq is set to supply Kuwait with 50 million cubic feet of gas daily, which will gradually increase to 200 million cubic feet [depending on] international prices. The gas will be exported through the three-decade-old pipeline linking the two countries. The pipeline, however, needs maintenance. Iraq will take care of maintenance over the 30 kilometers [19 miles] of pipeline stretching within its territory, while Kuwait will handle its part of the pipeline.”
Iraq has lost billions of dollars annually as a result of wasteful gas flaring and its importation of diesel fuel for electricity. That’s not to mention the low levels of energy efficiency because many Iraqi power stations run on dry gas, which is not produced locally.
What has compounded the problem is the reluctance of some oil companies to exploit associated gas despite the increase in Iraq’s crude oil production from an average of about 1 million barrels per day in 2003 to roughly 4.3 million per day in December, which increased gas flaring from 700 million cubic feet to 1.5 billion cubic feet daily.
Kuwait will lay the pipeline to the neighboring Rumaila oil field, the largest in the world, under the supervision of the BP oil company. The agreement is likely to be implemented soon, since Kuwait has a demand for natural gas that exceeds its supply by an estimated 500 million cubic feet daily. Kuwait has been unable to curb this deficit in part because of tension among Gulf countries that has prevented Qatari gas from flowing into Kuwait via Saudi Arabia; Reuters reports that much of the shortfall is being covered by imports of liquefied natural gas.
The Iraq-Kuwait associated petroleum gas deal should help Iraq pay off the remaining reparations for the invasion of Kuwait, amounting to $4.5 billion.
Iraq’s parliamentary Oil and Gas Committee criticized the government’s energy policy for relying on the development of oil production and neglecting natural gas processing, which could put an end to the country’s electricity crisis and launch petrochemical industries. Committee member Zaher al-Abadi told Al-Monitor, “Iraq is losing billions of dollars in flaring gas, while the Ministry of Oil is standing idly by.”
Oil expert Hamza al-Jawahiri, who is knowledgeable about the agreements between international oil companies and the Ministry of Oil, and between the ministry and various countries, said Kuwait will process the natural gas in Iraq and then transport it to its cities.
“As per the agreement, Kuwait will bear the expenses of building plants, processing and piping the gas,” he said. The gas will be processed in Iraq by separating impurities and non-methane hydrocarbons and fluids to produce dry natural gas.
Jawahiri added that Kuwait signed an agreement months ago with Basrah Gas Company, which is part of the latest gas export agreement, noting that other sources of gas will include rich oil and gas fields in southern Iraq. Basrah Gas is a consortium of three businesses including the majority shareholder South Gas Co., Shell and Mitsubishi. The consortium exploits gas from three oil fields.
Shaalan al-Daraji, Basrah Gas chief information officer, told Al-Monitor the company’s plan, which runs until 2021, aims to end the flaring of gas in the Zubair, Qurna 1 and Rumaila oil fields. “The company currently produces 700 million cubic feet of gas daily and has a strategic plan to stop gas flaring in oil fields,” Daraji said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi expressed great support for the Kuwait agreement, which could end Iraq’s long-standing estrangement with the Gulf countries, as Kuwait has asked the United Nations Security Council to lift sanctions on Iraq.
By Ahmed Mousa Jiyad.
Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.
Satarem-Missan Refinery Scandalous Contract Gets Final Termination Notice
The Iraqi Ministry of Oil (MoO) announced on 4th January 2018 that it had obliged Missan International Refinery Company (MIRC) (actually the bankrupt Swiss company Satarem) to sign an undertaking that it should start working on the 150kbd Missan Refinery within 30 days; otherwise the contract will be terminated without having any legal and financial consequences on the Ministry.
This move by the Ministry is long overdue and should be the very final termination warning as more than four years were lost without any tangible progress in the construction of the refinery.
As I have repeatedly argued, through my writings especially the direct debate communications with the Ministry officials and advisors that by concluding such a dubious contract with highly questionable unqualified bankrupt company, the Ministry surely deters serious refinery investors and, thus, defeats its own aspirations.
Please click here to download the full report.
Mr Jiyad is an independent development consultant, scholar and Associate with the former Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES), London. He was formerly a senior economist with the Iraq National Oil Company and Iraq’s Ministry of Oil, Chief Expert for the Council of Ministers, Director at the Ministry of Trade, and International Specialist with UN organizations in Uganda, Sudan and Jordan. He is now based in Norway (Email: mou-jiya(at)online.no, Skype ID: Ahmed Mousa Jiyad). Read more of Mr Jiyad’s biography here.
By Hassan al-Shanoun for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.
Can Baghdad contain diseases in areas liberated from IS?
An epidemic of skin diseases has plagued areas of Iraq that were under the control of the Islamic State (IS). Abdul Sattar Liwas, director of health in Al-Anbar province, said on Dec. 12 that liberated areas in the province have become contaminated with pesticides that are used to halt the spread of cutaneous leishmaniasis and other diseases.
The lack of health care, the scarcity of medicines and the tragic health conditions have all contributed to the spread of skin diseases, including what has become known among the people as Baghdad buttons, similar to Jericho buttons, which is a form of leishmaniasis caused by a parasite. No matter what people call it, this disease remains painful and sometimes very dangerous.
People can become infected with the parasite if they are bitten by a type of female mosquito called a sand bug — a small, silent bug that only flies in the dark.
According to Dr. Faris al-Azzawi, director of health in Diyala province, the health staff in the province “has recently recorded over 200 cases of Baghdad buttons.”
Azzawi told Al-Monitor over the phone, “The symptoms of the disease have been increasing in the past few months, as a result of environmental pollution and water pollution, displacement and lack of medicine.”
“Not only is this disease widespread in Dilaya, but in most Iraqi cities, and it is currently transitioning [from one area to another],” he said, adding, “My department has already started providing various treatments for the disease, and medical teams have been deployed to cure the infections and raise awareness around the province about the dangers of Baghdad buttons.”
Mohammed Deifan al-Obeidi, the head of Diyala’s provincial council, said Al-Azim district in Diyala province, 60 kilometers north of Baquba, has registered an unprecedented spread of this disease, especially among children, while 50 cases were reported in the span of only a few days in Al-Bo Hanihan refugee camp in the outskirts of the district.
By Adnan Abu Zeed for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.
From a quick visit to the local barber shop for laser hair removal to a trip to Lebanon for liposuction, Iraqis from all walks of life are turning to cosmetic surgery.
An annual report issued by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery places Iraqis as the top nationality receiving plastic surgery in Lebanon. According to the report, 0.3% of cosmetic operations of 2016 were carried out in Lebanon.
In Iraq, however, those who perform unlicensed cosmetic operations will find it difficult to give stem cell injections and laser treatments in the future. The Ministry of Health is shutting down unlicensed beauty salons and massage parlors in Baghdad, according to a report by Al-Hurrah News. The report said that more than 52 salons in Baghdad were closed on Nov. 17, when the Ministry of Health began the operation.
The unauthorized salons are a response to the growing demand from Iraqis of all social classes, not just the rich, for cosmetic surgery.
The editor of the All Beauty Guide website, which evaluates Baghdad’s beauty salons, told Al-Monitor, “Hundreds of beauty salons have spread in Baghdad and other provinces over the past couple of years.” The editor, who asked not to be named, also pointed out, “Iraq has become a cheap and convenient destination for plastic surgery, with many patients coming from neighboring countries.”
According to the Tajmeeli website, which provides information on cosmetic procedures, tummy tucks are very common in Iraq and carried out by qualified specialists starting at $750 per operation, a price affordable for middle-class families.
The Ministry of Health/Environment and the National Investment Commission (NIC) in coordination with Babil Governorate and Najaf Governorate are pleased to announce the investment opportunity of {Operating, managing and sustaining} of Imam Sadiq Hospital in Babil and Najaf Hospital in Najaf according to investment law no. (13) for the year 2006, as amended.
Investors, companies and specialized sides are invited to submit their offers (commercial and technical offers providing that they include their vision of improving the medical services and scaling up performance on servicing and training the staff according to the standards approved by the Ministry of health with attaching the feasibility study knowing that all the above mentioned points shall be taken into consideration in evaluating the submitted offers) to the Contracts Section in the Ministry of Health and the National Investment Commission within (60) days from the date of publishing the announcement.
For any further information or fixing a date to visit the hospitals, please contact the following numbers:
(Source: National Investment Commission)