JWing
07-13-2011, 12:34 PM
By Hassan Hafidh
Published July 13, 2011
| Dow Jones Newswires
re
LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Iraq's crude oil exports from the northern Kurdistan region in June hit a peak of 175,000 barrels a day, up from 75,000 barrels a day in February, Ashti Hawrami, oil minister for the Kurdistan Regional Government, said Wednesday.
Revenues from oil sales from the Kurdistan region over the five months since the KRG resumed exports in February has reached $2 billion.
The Kurds would receive half of that amount to pay contracting companies in accordance with a 2010 agreement with the federal government in Baghdad, the minister told an Iraqi oil conference in London.
Total crude oil output from Kurdistan is currently at 250,000 barrels a day, some 60,000 barrels a day out of which are processed in the region's refineries, the minister said.
"We will continue our work to arrive at 200,000 barrels a day of exports by the end of this year," the minister said.
The Kurdish minister said the region sits on at least 46 billion barrels of oil and as much as 100-200 trillion cubic feet of gas. The oil ministry in Baghdad announced last year that Iraq's proven crude-oil reserves, excluding Kurdistan, are estimated at 143.1 billion, the world's third largest.
The Kurds suspended exports of 40,000-60,000 barrels a day in September 2009, from the Tawke and Taq Taq fields, after a brief trial because the federal government refused to compensate oil companies for costs incurred during exploration and production.
But the Iraqi central government last year reached an agreement with Kurdish authorities to resume oil exports from the semi-autonomous region as from February, and agreed to pay exploration costs and expenses to foreign firms in the KRG.
The Kurds and the central government, which grants all oil-export licenses, have been at odds over oil contracts the Kurds signed with foreign companies. Baghdad doesn't recognize the contracts.
Also unresolved is the enactment of an Iraqi oil and gas law, which Kurdish officials said is needed to ensure long-term investment in the region. Under the current arrangement, Baghdad has agreed to compensate contracting companies in Kurdistan for the costs of their exports, but not for profits. The Kurds hope to have a law enacted by this year, but past efforts have died in Iraq's parliament.
Hawrami said he was optimistic that the outstanding issues between Erbil and Baghdad would be solved. He said he expected the federal parliament to start debating a hydrocarbons law and a companion revenue-sharing law in the coming months.
Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2011/07/13/iraq-kurdish-june-oil-exports-175000-bd-minister/#ixzz1S0XqA0qv
Published July 13, 2011
| Dow Jones Newswires
re
LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Iraq's crude oil exports from the northern Kurdistan region in June hit a peak of 175,000 barrels a day, up from 75,000 barrels a day in February, Ashti Hawrami, oil minister for the Kurdistan Regional Government, said Wednesday.
Revenues from oil sales from the Kurdistan region over the five months since the KRG resumed exports in February has reached $2 billion.
The Kurds would receive half of that amount to pay contracting companies in accordance with a 2010 agreement with the federal government in Baghdad, the minister told an Iraqi oil conference in London.
Total crude oil output from Kurdistan is currently at 250,000 barrels a day, some 60,000 barrels a day out of which are processed in the region's refineries, the minister said.
"We will continue our work to arrive at 200,000 barrels a day of exports by the end of this year," the minister said.
The Kurdish minister said the region sits on at least 46 billion barrels of oil and as much as 100-200 trillion cubic feet of gas. The oil ministry in Baghdad announced last year that Iraq's proven crude-oil reserves, excluding Kurdistan, are estimated at 143.1 billion, the world's third largest.
The Kurds suspended exports of 40,000-60,000 barrels a day in September 2009, from the Tawke and Taq Taq fields, after a brief trial because the federal government refused to compensate oil companies for costs incurred during exploration and production.
But the Iraqi central government last year reached an agreement with Kurdish authorities to resume oil exports from the semi-autonomous region as from February, and agreed to pay exploration costs and expenses to foreign firms in the KRG.
The Kurds and the central government, which grants all oil-export licenses, have been at odds over oil contracts the Kurds signed with foreign companies. Baghdad doesn't recognize the contracts.
Also unresolved is the enactment of an Iraqi oil and gas law, which Kurdish officials said is needed to ensure long-term investment in the region. Under the current arrangement, Baghdad has agreed to compensate contracting companies in Kurdistan for the costs of their exports, but not for profits. The Kurds hope to have a law enacted by this year, but past efforts have died in Iraq's parliament.
Hawrami said he was optimistic that the outstanding issues between Erbil and Baghdad would be solved. He said he expected the federal parliament to start debating a hydrocarbons law and a companion revenue-sharing law in the coming months.
Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2011/07/13/iraq-kurdish-june-oil-exports-175000-bd-minister/#ixzz1S0XqA0qv