Tanker with piped Iraqi Kurdish oil U-turns away from U.S.

You are here: Home » Politics » Oil Policy » Baghdad to file new claims against KRG exports Baghdad to file new claims against KRG exports Baghdad to file new claims against KRG exports Flares burn at the Khurmala Dome processing facility, a key gathering station for Kurdish exports. (BEN LANDO/Iraq Oil Report) By Ben Lando and Ben Van Heuvelen of Iraq Oil Report Published Thursday, September 4th, 2014 Iraq's central government is filing new legal claims in its ongoing battle to prevent the autonomous Kurdistan region from independently exporting oil to international markets.On Thursday, lawyers representing Baghdad will file a new claim - as well as an amendment to a previous claim - against an oil tanker filled with Kurdistan-exported crude, which has been idling off the coast of Texas.On Friday or Monday, they will also file a claim in a Greek court against the owner of many tanke... ====================== BP and Sinopec have secured improved Technical Service Contract terms re. the Rumaila and Halfaya field developments. (Nothing has been mentioned re. the $/bbl but knowing how these things go it wouldn’t surprise me at all to learn that the $/bbl has also been improved. Good to see that some government departments are still functioning.) http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/134857/Iraq_Cuts_Output_Targets_In_Revised_Oil_Deals_With_BP_CNPC/?all=HG2 BASRA, Iraq, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Iraq signed revised contracts with foreign oil companies for two southern oilfields on Thursday that reduced their production targets and extended the life of the deals, Iraqi oil officials said. The revised deal with oil major BP for Iraq's giant Rumaila oilfield cut the planned plateau level to 2.1 million barrels per day from 2.85 million bpd, Salah Mohammad, general manager of the Rumaila Operating Organisation, told Reuters. Iraq also agreed with China's CNPC to slash the final output target from the Halfaya oilfield to 400,000 bpd from 535,000 bpd, Adnan Noshi, head of state-run Maysan Oil Co, said. Iraq had set an overall production capacity target of 12 million bpd by 2020, which would rival that of top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, after it signed service contracts in 2009-2010 to develop its southern oilfields. Oil majors working in Iraq include BP, leader at Rumaila; ExxonMobil, in charge of West Qurna 1; and Royal Dutch Shell, operator of Majnoon. But crumbling infrastructure, red tape and a lack of clear oil legislation have stunted investor interest. Iraq has repeatedly failed to reach its ambitious targets, and current output from the southern fields is around 3 million bpd. Baghdad has reduced the overall capacity target to 8.5-9 million bpd and returned to the negotiating table to discuss revised plateau production rates with oil companies. New Goals Rumaila, the workhorse of Iraq's oil industry which BP operates with CNPC, has estimated reserves of 17 billion barrels. It currently produces around 1.3 million bpd, Salah said, adding he expected that output level to remain steady for the rest of the year. Officials from BP and Iraq's oil ministry signed the amendment to the existing contract, originally agreed in 2009, in a closed-door meeting at Rumaila on Thursday. "Iraq and BP have reached an agreement to cut Rumaila's production target to 2.1 million bpd," Salah said. "It was (also) agreed to extend the timeframe to reach the new final production of 2.1 million bpd to 10 years from seven years that had been agreed upon before," he added. A BP spokesman said that under the amendment to the existing technical service agreement, the partners "plan to raise plateau production by about 800,000 b/d within the next decade to some 2.1 million b/d". CNPC, operator of Halfaya, is developing the field with France's Total and Malaysian state company Petronas . Maysan's Noshi said Halfaya's amended contract had been extended to 30 years from 20. Halfaya currently produces 200,000 bpd and it is expected to boost output to 230,000 bpd by the end of this year, he added. Iraq's giant southern fields have not been affected by Baghdad's fighting with Islamist insurgents. - ====================================================== Tanker with piped Iraqi Kurdish oil U-turns away from U.S. Fri, May 30 13:40 PM EDT By Julia Payne LONDON (Reuters) - A crude oil tanker at the center of a dispute between Iraqi Kurdistan and Baghdad has reversed course from its route towards the United States, ship-tracking data showed on Friday, indicating that the shipper may not have a buyer. The United Leadership oil tanker has become a symbol of a wider conflict between Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdistan over oil sales from the autonomous northern enclave, as it contains the first crude to come out of the region's newly built pipeline into Turkey. Since loading at the Turkish port of Ceyhan last week, the United Leadership set course for the U.S. Gulf Coast, according to ship-tracking and market sources. The U.S. State Department said that it did not condone oil sales bypassing Baghdad, and that any buyers could risk a legal suit with the central government. "We do not support the export or sale of oil absent the appropriate approval of the federal Iraqi government," a U.S. State Department official said. Despite its position, the U.S. has already imported small quantities of Kurdish oil, though not from the pipeline. The Kurdish government insisted the oil is going to Europe, when asked about its U.S. destination and that it would be the "first of many such sales". "One million barrels was sold by auction to both Germany and Italy. No shipment was sent to the United States," Moyad Talab, a spokesman for the Kurdistan Alliance to the central government, told Reuters. HOMELESS But for the moment, the oil appears to be homeless. The tanker reversed course south of Portugal with a new destination, Gibraltar for orders, Reuters AIS Live ship tracking showed, suggesting that the lifter of the oil has still not found a place to put it. Until last week, Kurdish oil exports were constrained to a small volume shipped by truck to two Turkish ports on the Mediterranean. Iraq's state marketer made threats of legal action but did not follow through. But the start of exports out of the Kurdistan's pipeline means much more significant revenues for the region. Iraq swiftly announced that it filed an arbitration case against Turkey with the International Chamber of Commerce. It also asked its customers to confirm they would never buy exported Kurdish oil, which they have done, an industry source with knowledge of the matter said. In an effort to lock down the whole process of loading a tanker, Iraq's state marketer SOMO told inspections company, Netherlands-based Saybolt, to cease analyzing Kurdish crude, industry sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. Saybolt management could not immediately be reached for comment. Iraq and Kurdistan were trying to reach a political agreement over the oil sales, but five months after the pipeline started up there had still been no final decision, prompting the Kurdish Regional Government to go it alone.

"There is no going back," KRG's Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said this week in parliament. "If we cannot reach a shared understanding, we have other options and we cannot wait forever. Why did we begin selling oil? In order to make Baghdad realize that we can do it."

================================= United Leadership arvidjaur Been out all day, long walk to Scoraig, wester Ross, and back, truly stunning part of Scotland....Any way UL deviated from course and was heading towards casablanca and now on a reverse course, so heading NW, still showing Gibraltar for orders..... I think the destiny of this particular ship will be pivotal in this whole KRG ICG debacle, it is currently idle off the NW coast of Africa, and I assume awaiting new direction from its owners. Where this ship goes will give an indication of our future...so, not so anal, just another indicator in the wonderful weird world of GKP... (Additional reporting by Isabel Coles in Arbil, Ned Parker in Baghdad and Timothy Gardner in Washington, Editing by Susan Thomas)