- QatarEnergy selects Nakilat to own and operate 25 conventional LNG vessels
- The joint development of the Dorra field between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait is pending the demarcation of the border with Iran
- Minister of Energy reaffirms the UAE’s commitment to adopting clean energy and supporting the Paris Agreement
- The new Hassi Messaoud refinery enjoys the support of the government and President Tebboune
- Increasing electrical interconnection capacities to export electricity beyond borders
- Qatar Energy stops sending liquefied gas tankers through the Red Sea for security reasons
- The inauguration of the Duqm Refinery, the largest joint Gulf project in the refinery sector
- Saudi oil exports are faltering due to Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden
- Algeria to host and chair the Gas Exporting Countries Forum summit (February 29 to March 2, 2024)
- Egypt Energy Conference and Exhibition 2024 gives a strong impetus to the global energy dialogue
Severe differences between Baghdad and Erbil over exporting Kurdistan oil
The Kurdistan region is floating above 45 billion barrels of oil reserves, about a third of Iraq’s 142.5 billion barrels. Kurdistan reserves exceed those of major oil members of OPEC.
The reserves of Kirkuk’s oil fields are estimated at more than 35 billion barrels with a production capacity of 750,000 barrels to 1 million barrels per day.
Oil has been produced from the giant Aba Karkar or Baba Karkar fields near the city of Kirkuk since 1934. The city is famous for other fields such as Jambour Field, North and South Bai Hassan Fields, Avana Field, Nana Wa Field and Kiwi Port Field.
Kirkuk oil fields are characterized by abundant production and good quality of light crude, despite the content of sulfur dioxide H2S, which needs to be processed before preparing for export.
In recent weeks, the oil and energy committee in the Iraqi parliament decided to form a fact-finding committee on oil exports in the northern Kurdistan region. This comes in light of accusations against the central government of the Kurdistan region, evading the supply of “Baghdad” share of oil.
This year’s budget provides that the federal government has to pay the salaries of employees of the Kurdistan region, in return Kurdistan should deliver the Government of Baghdad 250 thousand barrels of oil per day.
The Baghdad government estimates that the production of “Kurdistan” is up to 500 thousand barrels per day, but nothing of them reaches the federal government. On the other side Kurdish officials say the federal government owes them $80 billion.
