Basra leaders threaten independent oil deals

Basra leaders threaten independent oil deals A worker of Iraq's state-run South Oil Company walks past a crude processing facility at the Bin Umar field, Oct. 3, 2011. (ATEF HASSAN/Reuters) By ALI ABU IRAQ AND BEN LANDO of Iraq Oil Report Published Monday, November 9th, 2015 Provincial leaders are threatening to seize authority over several oil fields in Basra as a way to pay bills and fund investment in Iraq's impoverished oil capital.Last week in Istanbul, the chairman of the council's energy committee, Ali Shaddad al-Faris, held meetings with international lawyers to map out a legal strategy for claiming and contracting fields, according to an official familiar with the discussions.Sabah al-Bezzouni, the chairman of the Basra Provincial Council, said in a... Exxon, PetroChina courted for oil and water deal Exxon, PetroChina courted for oil and water deal A worker adjusts the valve of an oil pipe at the West Qurna 1 oilfield in Basra on Nov. 28, 2010. (ATEF HASSAN/Reuters) By BEN LANDO of Iraq Oil Report Published Tuesday, November 3rd, 2015 The Oil Ministry is offering a deal for two oil fields to ExxonMobil and PetroChina in an effort to jumpstart a long-delayed, multi-billion dollar water project necessary to maintain pressure in more than a half dozen vital oil fields in southern Iraq.Exxon was once involved in the Common Seawater Supply Project (CSSP) – from 2009-2011 it was slated to lead a consortium of foreign oil companies to manage the project – though disputes over cost estimates and Exxon's 2011 contracts with Ir... New details of KRG oil deals reveal latent risks New details of KRG oil deals reveal latent risks Workers measure the pressure at the Central Processing Facility at the Tawke oil field in Iraqi Kurdistan. (SEBASTIAN MEYER/Metrography/Iraq Oil Report) By PATRICK OSGOOD, RAWAZ TAHIR AND BEN VAN HEUVELEN of Iraq Oil Report Published Thursday, October 29th, 2015 When the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) decided to walk away from an oil deal with Baghdad, in June, it gambled that it could generate a more stable revenue stream - and help remedy a crippling financial crisis - by exporting all of its oil independently.But four months later, new details of the KRG's independent oil exports reveal a tenuous financial situation. While the KRG Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) has increased the region's overall income, it is also accumulating billions ...