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Iraq signals progress in talks with KRG, IOCs
Iraq signals progress in talks with KRG, IOCs
Dubai, 10 June (Argus) — Iraq's oil minister Hayyan Abdulghani said progress has been made in negotiations with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and international oil companies (IOCs) on resuming crude exports via Turkey. "There is a progress in these negotiations, and we hope that in the coming few days we will reach a final understanding in this regard," Abdulghani told Iraqi state-run TV channel Iraqiya. Abdulghani attended a meeting in Baghdad on 9 June with representatives from the KRG's natural resources ministry and most of the IOCs that operate in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region. The talks were aimed at reaching a deal to resume exports of northern Iraqi crude via Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. Around 470,000 b/d of crude exports from the Kurdistan region have been absent from international markets since March last year after Turkey closed the pipeline linking oil fields in northern Iraq to Ceyhan. The closure followed an international tribunal ruling which said Turkey had breached a bilateral agreement with Baghdad by allowing Kurdish crude to be exported without the federal government's consent. Sunday's tripartite meeting involved representatives from all but one of the IOCs that operate in the Kurdish region. Norway's DNO, which holds a 75pc stake in northern Iraq's Tawke and Pehsakbir fields, was absent, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter. An oil ministry source denied that a condition of the IOCs' attendance at the meeting was that they provide a copy of their production-sharing contracts (PSCs) with the KRG. A source close to the IOCs said it had been a condition but was eventually dropped. Baghdad has previously proposed a middle ground agreement that would see it amend its federal budget to allow it to pay IOCs operating in Kurdistan, in return for a compromise with the KRG and the IOCs over the recovery costs they claim for oil produced in the region. A resumption of northern Iraq crude exports could complicate Baghdad's relations with Opec+, given Iraq is already struggling to comply with its Opec+ commitments. It recently submitted a plan outlining how it will compensate for producing above its target in the first quarter. Iraq's production rose by 20,000 b/d to 4.16mn b/d in May, according to Argus estimates, leaving it 160,000 b/d above its target. By Bachar Halabi Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
New Zealand to overturn ban on new oil, gas exploration
New Zealand to overturn ban on new oil, gas exploration
Singapore, 10 June (Argus) — The New Zealand government aims to introduce legislation later this year to overturn a 2018 ban on new oil and gas exploration. Resources minister Shane Jones said on 9 June that the amendment to the existing law will be introduced to parliament in the second half of this year, to deal with energy security challenges. The previous Labour party-led coalition had implemented the ban by not issuing any new oil and gas exploration permits , as part of a pledge to achieve a carbon neutral economy by 2050. Its 2018 exploration block offer was limited to onshore acreage in the Taranaki basin on the North Island. But political parties that now make up New Zealand's centre-right coalition government campaigned on reviving New Zealand's energy sector . "When the exploration ban was introduced by the previous government in 2018, it not only halted the exploration needed to identify new sources but it also shrank investment in further development of our known gas fields which sustain our current levels of use," Jones said. "Without this investment, we are now in a situation where our annual natural gas production is expected to peak this year and undergo a sustained decline, meaning we have a security of supply issue barrelling towards us." Estimated gas reserves have dropped below 10 years of remaining use for the first time, based on average gas use of 200 PJ/yr (5.34bn m³/yr) over the last 10 years, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment said last year, although current gas use and supplies are below this level. Proven plus probable gas reserves dropped by 17pc on the year to 1,635PJ in 2013. By Richard Davies Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Cargo vessel hit by missile off Yemen
Cargo vessel hit by missile off Yemen
London, 9 June (Argus) — A cargo vessel has been hit by a missile in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen, the UK's Maritime Trade Operations office reported on Sunday, in what appears to be the latest strike by the country's Houthi militants. The incident took place 70 nautical miles (80.6 miles) southwest of Aden, UKMTO said, causing a fire in the aft section of the vessel. Damage control was now underway, the office said, adding that no casualties had been reported and the vessel was proceeding to its next port of call. Yemen's Houthi rebels have been attacking commercial shipping in and around the Rea Sea since November 2023, in what they claim is a campaign of solidarity with Palestinians in Israel's war against Hamas. The attacks have had a severe impact on shipping, including energy and commodity trade, passing through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. Combined flows of crude and products through the canal dropped by 44pc month-on-month in April , according to data from trade analytics platform Kpler, and were down 73pc on the year. The Houthis on 3 May announced the immediate start of a "fourth stage of escalation" in their campaign, involving ships that violate its "ban on Israel navigation" and ships heading to Israeli ports in the Mediterranean. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Baghdad, KRG and IOCs to meet over oil exports
Baghdad, KRG and IOCs to meet over oil exports
Dubai, 9 June (Argus) — Iraq's oil ministry will meet on Sunday with the Iraqi Kurdistan ministry of natural resources (MNR) and international oil companies operating in the northern Kurdish region to discuss resuming Iraqi Kurdish crude exports via Turkey's Mediterranean Ceyhan port, a senior oil ministry source told Argus . The ministry had called for a meeting "as soon as possible" on 29 May "for the purpose of… reaching an agreement to accelerate the restart of production and resume the export of oil… according to the quantities specified in the budget law." Around 470,000 b/d of crude exports from Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region have been absent from international markets since March 2023 when Turkey closed the pipeline linking oil fields in northern Iraq to Ceyhan. That move followed an international tribunal ruling which said Turkey had breached a bilateral agreement with Baghdad by allowing Kurdish crude to be exported without the federal government's consent. Baghdad, however, is preconditioning the IOC's attendance at the Sunday meeting in Baghdad on them providing a copy of the production sharing contracts (PSCs) they have with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), a source with knowledge of the matter said. "Every IOC was invited and will make their own decision about attending," the source adds. The IOCs have previously complained about being left out of the ongoing conversation between Erbil and Baghdad. But this new development could further complicate the talks, especially since Baghdad considers those contracts illegal, null and void, according to a federal court ruling. Baghdad also says it has "never seen" the IOC contracts. "The oil ministry does not have a copy of the IOCs' contracts with the KRG. We have never seen them," the oil ministry source confirmed to Argus. Baghdad had earlier proposed a middle ground agreement that would see it amend its federal budget to allow it to pay IOCs operating in Kurdistan, in return for a compromise with the KRG and the IOCs over the recovery cost they claim for oil produced in the Kurdish region. Prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said on 31 May his government has agreed to amend the budget law, but that the IOCs operating in Iraqi Kurdistan were refusing to amend their existing contracts with the KRG. The Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (Apikur), an industry body representing IOCs operating in the northern region, has denied those claims. Apikur in a statement published in May said its members would be willing to consider modifications to existing contracts provided the matter is agreed by Iraq's federal government, the KRG and the firms themselves. By Bachar Halabi Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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