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The escalation of Iraqi oil production with re-processing
On: Tuesday 6/5/2012 6:56
More / New York Times
Translation / Abdul Khaliq Ali
despite the bombings and political stalemate, the Iraq's production of crude oil continues to rise, providing a bright future for the country and is a relief for the world oil markets at a time, which stresses the West its sanctions on Iranian exports. The increasing flow of oil and improvements made to the ports have generated increased by 20%
In exports this year, bringing the production to about 2.5 million barrels per day, making Iraq one of the first producers in OPEC for the first time in decades.
Analysts say the increase in Iraqi oil production - with the increase in Saudi oil production and the return of Libya's oil industry - would ease from high oil prices on global markets and the international community to supply the extra power will apply when international sanctions on Iran in the new month of July. Says David Goldwyn, coordinator of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, former international energy affairs in the Obama administration, "Iraq presents a big help, even if it increased its oil exports by half of what is planned next year, it would offset about half of Iranian production in the future."
For Iraq, the resurgence of oil - which began pumping rates were not present since the Saddam to power in 1979 - is vital to the success of the postwar period. Oil provides more than 95 percent of government revenue and has helped build roads and expand social services and reinforce the authority of the government in this country ethnically divided. As was the oil share in the pitfalls of young democracy, encouraging corruption and nepotism, and exacerbated tensions with the Kurdish minority in the north of the country on the sharing of profits and is the cause of festering can be finished tear the country apart.
government says that it can add 400 thousand barrels per day to production by next year and has announced its goal of producing ten million barrels per day in 2017, which would make both with Saudi Arabia. Few independent analysts believe that this goal can be achieved, but the managers of oil companies and admire the progress of Iraq's ambitions. Michelle says Taunznd, president of BP in Iraq, "that what proceeds by the Iraqi government and increase production, which aspires to it under each of these contracts is something unique of its kind in the world. You can not any country so far to increase oil production to the extent that planned Iraq. It's an ambitious project and will take a lot of things to be done correctly. "
comes to improve Iraq's oil wealth in a timely manner to compensate for oil production declining in Iran, which fell by OPEC to 12 percent in the first three months of the year after he stopped India and China and other Asian countries gradually buy Iranian oil pressure from the United States and Europe.
that Iraq's role in mitigating the impact of international sanctions faced by Iran on the oil market could create tensions with Iran, which is a strong supporter and ally of the Iraqi government, but the experts Oil say that exports have a high value for Iraq, so do not allow their relationship with Iran that impede oil production.
began to return Iraq's oil industry after decades of wars, sanctions and neglect, in 2009 and 2010 after the improvement of security situation and the signing of Baghdad on a number of service contracts technical with foreign companies such as Exxon Mobil and BP and China National Petroleum and Italy's Eni, bringing companies with seismic equipment and modern methods for the rehabilitation of old fields. These deals check for foreign companies profits medium only, but the executives are expressing optimism that Iraq can produce amounts of oil to make it within the elite exporters in the world with Saudi Arabia and Russia in 2020 and beyond.
Currently Iraq produces about three million barrels a day, many analysts do not believe that Iraq is able to achieve its goal the production of ten million barrels per day in 2017, but Hans Nickamb - Chief of the Royal Dutch Shell in Iraq - It is estimated that Iraq could produce 6 to 10 million barrels per day in the next decade. Says managers International that the routine procedures of government departments are still slow and uncoordinated in building a new port and an infrastructure of pipelines to deliver oil from fields to trucks, as the political battle over the division of profits prevented the enactment of the oil, which means that the companies follow the instructions are not and the countless dating back to the reign of the Ottoman Empire. Electricity shortages forced the politicians to choose between service oil companies or the civilian population who are demanding more services.
for the purpose of increasing production, the country needs to develop a draft water great for filtering and pumping sea water into old oil fields in order to increase the pressure required to produce crude oil from the earth. We began planning the project, but progressed slowly. And that Iraq needs to negotiate its share of export within OPEC in order to accommodate the increase, a process that could raise thorny tensions with Saudi Arabia and Iran.
has been some problems last week during the fourth round of licenses granted to three decades of the total 12. Was the auction in one of the lounges and the Oil Ministry, and was similar Bbehrjh movies military, where the red carpet, ropes velvet and hordes of photographers and honor guard in uniform and were carrying their rifles with bayonets, as the transfer of decrees on TV official, radio music song " Hilo, "by Lionel Ritchie through the elevator again and again. Hall was massing diplomats and politicians and executives of foreign oil companies, but the offers were few. Mr. Abdul Mahdi al-Amidi, the ministry official, the official supervisor of the auction, "remained three minutes after the end of time and did not offer one thing." The auction has been disappointing and reflects the difficult conditions required by the government more than it reflects a lack of interest in the energy sector in Iraq, where the some of the fields in the areas of serious and far, and in fact that more presentations were related to natural gas, which does not attract foreign companies, as is the case with oil. And that Iraq has used the auction to slap Exxon Mobil because of the production sharing contracts signed in the province of Kurdistan without the approval of the central government, and prevent the company from its bid submission. But at the same time did not affect Iraq's oil contracts for Exxon in the south and this is proof of pragmatism or perhaps paralysis, according to one analyst.
Despite all these uncertainties, it says foreign companies remain. Says Claudio Dskza - responsible exploration and production in the Italian giant Eni "We are in Iraq because we believe that there is significant growth in production, and that things will improve in the future."
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