Iraq pays Kurd oil contractors

[JWing]

(AFP) – 3 hours ago
BAGHDAD — Iraq has paid oil contractors in its autonomous Kurdistan region for the first time, the region's premier said in a statement released on Thursday, a significant step in an ongoing energy dispute.
The central government in Baghdad transferred a total of $243 million to contractors working in the Kurdish region, made up of three provinces in Iraq's north, the region's prime minister Barham Saleh said in the statement.
"This confirmation of payment to the KRG (Kurdistan regional government) for the region?s contractors amounts to around 50 percent of net revenues derived from the export of over five million barrels of oil from the Kurdistan region between the start of February 2011 and March 27," he said.
The statement said the payment was made as part of an "interim agreement on revenue allocation" agreed between Saleh, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, and the national ministers of oil and finance.
The payment is the first made by Baghdad to oil companies working in Kurdistan. It had previously refused to pay amid a row with regional authorities in Arbil.
Kurdish leaders and the central government have squabbled over payments, revenue sharing and Baghdad's refusal to recognise the dozens of oil contracts Arbil has signed with international energy firms.
Iraq currently produces around 2.6 million barrels of oil per day, exporting about 2.1 million bpd, with revenues from crude sales accounting for 90 percent of government income.
Kurdish regional natural resources minister Ashti Hawrami said in the statement that the region is currently exporting around 135,000 bpd, and is projected to increase that to 200,000 bpd by year-end.


http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gpVMKSqI_mRHsZmwMZ8rTIsMeKjA?docId=CNG.fc1f4 1b1dbc6694f50f2e37c1bbd5ca8.211

[copper13]

Kurdish government gets oil payment

May 6, 2011

ERBIL, Iraq, May 6 (UPI) -- The Iraqi Finance Minister confirmed the first oil export payment to contractors in the Kurdish region, the regional government said.

Kurdish Prime Minister Barham Salih said the federal government in Baghdad confirmed payment to the Kurdistan Regional Government for revenues derived from the export of 5 million barrels of oil early this year.

"This is a significant and welcome step forward for the Kurdistan Region and Iraq," he said. "I am pleased that the KRG and its contractors are making an important contribution to Iraq's oil output and thus to the revival of Iraq's economy."

The payment of $243 million to contractors in the three northern Kurdish provinces of Iraq is the first for Baghdad, which had disagreed with the Kurdish government in Erbil over oil payment issues.

Salih added that the deal was part of an interim agreement brokered between the KRG, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the federal government's Oil and Finance Ministries.

"It augurs well for the timely passage of a federal hydrocarbons law, a federal revenue sharing law and the other federal oil legislation," he added.

The KRG said it exported around 4.5 million barrels of oil through Turkey in April. The government in Erbil said it had an oil export target for 2011 of 200,000 barrels per day.


Read more: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/Resource-Wars/2011/05/06/Kurdish-government-gets-oil-payments/UPI-14561304683915/#ixzz1LaUcN1yZ

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/Resource-Wars/2011/05/06/Kurdish-government-gets-oil-payments/UPI-14561304683915/

[dinar_queen]

Iraq pays Kurd oil contractors

http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/sSuXPy56uAXt7RU30ynqkw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9Zml0O2g9NDA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_gb/News/logo/afp/afp4.gif (http://www.afp.com/afpcom/en/)By Ali al-Saadi | AFP – Fri, May 6, 2011

Iraq has paid oil contractors in its autonomous Kurdistan region for the first time, the region's premier said in a statement released on Thursday, a significant step in an ongoing energy dispute.

The central government in Baghdad transferred a total of $243 million to contractors working in the Kurdish region, made up of three provinces in Iraq's north, the region's prime minister Barham Saleh said in the statement.

"This confirmation of payment to the KRG (Kurdistan regional government) for the region?s contractors amounts to around 50 percent of net revenues derived from the export of over five million barrels of oil from the Kurdistan region between the start of February 2011 and March 27," he said.

The statement said the payment was made as part of an "interim agreement on revenue allocation" agreed between Saleh, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, and the national ministers of oil and finance.

The payment is the first made by Baghdad to oil companies working in Kurdistan. It had previously refused to pay amid a row with regional authorities in Arbil.

Kurdish leaders and the central government have squabbled over payments, revenue sharing and Baghdad's refusal to recognise the dozens of oil contracts Arbil has signed with international energy firms.

Iraq currently produces around 2.6 million barrels of oil per day, exporting about 2.1 million bpd, with revenues from crude sales accounting for 90 percent of government income.

Kurdish regional natural resources minister Ashti Hawrami said in the statement that the region is currently exporting around 135,000 bpd, and is projected to increase that to 200,000 bpd by year-end.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/iraq-pays-kurd-oil-contractors-090050379.html

[Hue Mi]

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Kurdish oil feud cools as Iraq pays exporters (http://arabnews.com/economy/article384075.ece)

By REUTERS

Published: May 6, 2011 22:46 Updated: May 6, 2011 22:46

OSLO: International producers can finally recover some of the investments they have made to get oil flowing in Iraqi Kurdistan since the fall of Saddam Hussein, the region’s leader said.

In a potential breakthrough for companies active in Iraq’s north, regional Prime Minister Barham Salih said Baghdad has sent the first-ever payment for exports — $243 million — to local officials for transfer to contractors after years of dispute over terms.

“This positive development (adds) impetus to discussions over a long-delayed raft of federal oil- and gas-related legislation,” Salih said in a statement.

He failed to address contentious long-term profit-sharing terms for the companies but said the initial payment “augers well for the timely passage of a federal hydrocarbons law, a federal revenue-sharing law and other federal oil legislation.”

The money is half the net revenues from some 5 million barrels of exports in February and March, the first months of Kurdish exports after a 17-month shutdown as debate raged between Baghdad and the Kurdish capital of Arbil over how much to pay companies.

Salih said the payout stemmed from an “interim agreement” under which some export revenue collected by Baghdad would go to the region to pay “exploration and extraction costs” of contractors.

“The sum was transferred today from Baghdad to the KRG and for sure it will reach the companies in the next few days,” Fadhel Nabi, Iraq’s deputy finance minister in Baghdad, said.

Exports from two Kurdish oil fields — the Tawke field operated by DNO and Taq Taq by Turkey’s Genel Enerji and China’s Sinopec — flowed briefly in 2009.

That ended when the central government refused to honor export terms agreed by Arbil, saying they were too generous and that only Baghdad had contracting authority. The firms scaled back production and began selling locally at a painful discount.

Analysts said Thursday’s announcement leaves much of the dispute unresolved.

“There could still be a potential risk that Baghdad will say these contracts are far too good,” said Anders Holte, an analyst at ABG Sundal Collier.

After investing about $500 million in the region, DNO reported gross production at Tawke of more than two million barrels in February and March combined.

Much of the payment announced on Thursday will thus go to the Norwegian firm and its junior license partner, Genel. DNO entered Kurdistan in 2004, a year after the US-led invasion.

London-listed Gulf Keystone and Heritage Oil have also made large hydrocarbon discoveries on regional Kurdish licenses.

Trond Omdal of Arctic Securities said the $243 million seemed to be an “installment” toward further compensation.

DNO spokesman Tom Bratlie said: “We do not have any additional information at the moment. The issue of export payments has of course been the most important issue since we started exporting in the beginning of February.”

Analyst Marius Gaard at Oslo’s Carnegie Investment said the transfer from Baghdad was “the news we’ve been waiting for” but would not declare the firms’ wait over.

“When you read the announcement it is difficult to see what they (the two levels of government) have agreed on,” he said. “It’s a step in the right direction.”

“We will work to transfer the sums to the companies as soon as possible,” Ahmed Al-Mufti, an energy adviser to the prime minister of Iraq’s Kurdish region, said.