Dohuk, April 20 (AKnews)- The mayor for Atrush district said that oil has been discovered in a village around Atrush, in Dohuk province of the Kurdistan Region (northern Iraq). Nashwan Husni Othman told AKnews that in Mghara village an oil well has been discovered. He expected the well to be very large, though so far oil is not pumped out of the well. In Balata village though the excavation has been underway for a while, no wells have been discovered. The process will continue, however, the official said. Provisions are set to conduct query for oil in Barebere village, too. The US-based Marathon Oil Group will take 20% of the oil revenues for discovering and pumping oil from Atrush area, which is presumed to be rich in oil. Reported by Ayad Naqib
22-Apr-10 [16:41] PNA Erbil, Kurdistan - Wolfgang Ruttenstrofer, the Austrian Oil Company has decided to transfer liquid gas to Europe from Kurdistan region. In a gathering with Kurdistan parliament speaker Dr. Kamal Kirkuki, Chairman and Chief Executive of Austrian Oil and Gas Group (OMV AG) Wolfgang Ruttenstrofer highlighted his companys prominent role in Europe in terms of oil transfer. Wolfgang Ruttenstrofer underlined Kurdistan strategic position and pointed out that his company will undertake a part of an exploration project through Kurdistan on which it is highly skilled. Kurdistan parliament speaker expressed his willingness for the project and stressed bilateral ties between two countries in all aspects.
02/05/2011 16:44 Baghdad, May 2 (AKnews) The Oil and Energy Parliamentary Committee will discuss the controversial oil contracts awarded by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq amid objections from the Federal Oil Ministry, it was announced today. The contracts were awarded in 2009 by the KRG, but were never officially recognized by the central government in Iraq, who said that only they had the right to sign such deals. There is confusion about whose jurisdiction this falls under, with Prime Minister Noori al Maliki giving mixed messages and the law unclear. Member of Parliament, Furat al Sharei, who sits on the Oil and Energy Committee, today accused the Oil Ministry of over reacting to the issue. He said that this situation highlights the legal and technical obstacles that hinder investment. All that needs to happen is, the contracts need simple reviews to make sure they are within the legal framework set by the Oil Ministry," he said. The Federal Oil Ministry last week renewed its rejection of the contracts awarded by the KRG to 40 companies, including Norwegian oil firm DNO, declaring them illegal. Oil exports resumed after nearly two years earlier this year after the KRG and the Iraqi Government reached a temporary agreement on exports. The discussion of the contracts by the Oil and Energy Committee is seen as a positive move towards getting the contracts officially recognized, as relations between the autonomous region and the central government fray. Much of the confusion stems from the failure of the last Iraqi Government to pass a new oil and gas law which would have seen the clearer demarcation of responsibilities of the different bodies. Currently the Oil Ministry and the Federal Oil Council have overlapping roles. By Jaafar al-Wannan and Patrick Smith http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/2/236451/
PNA-The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has received a written notice from the federal Ministry of Finance in Baghdad, confirming release of the first oil export payment to the KRG contractors, Prime Minister Barham Salih announced today. The Prime Minister said, This confirmation of payment to the KRG for the Regions contractors amounts to around 50 percent (US$243 million) of net revenues derived from the export of over 5 million barrels of oil from the Kurdistan Region between the start of February 2011 and March 27. The payment is part of the recent interim agreement on revenue allocation reached by the KRG with the federal Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki and the federal Ministers of Oil and Finance. That arrangement allowed for the resumption of oil exports from newly discovered fields in the Kurdistan Region, marketed by the federal governments State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), and with a percentage of the revenues going via the KRG to the contractors to pay exploration and extraction costs. This is a significant and welcome step forward for the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, the Prime Minister said. I am pleased that the KRG and its contractors are making an important contribution to Iraqs oil output and thus to the revival of Iraqs economy. The Prime Minister said, The triggering of the oil payments mechanism signifies the commitment to resolve the outstanding issues between Erbil and Baghdad in accordance with Iraqs Constitution. He said This positive development will add impetus to discussions over a long-delayed raft of federal oil and gas related legislation. The dispensation of the costs to the relevant companies will adhere to our agreement and in accordance with verifiable auditing standards. It augurs well for the timely passage of a federal hydrocarbons law, a federal revenue sharing law, and the other federal oil legislation, the Prime Minister said, adding, Articles 18 and 19 of the KRGs Oil and Gas Law, passed in 2007, explicitly commit the KRG to cooperation with the federal government in pursuance of the federal constitution requirement to 'generate maximum revenues in a timely manner for the benefit of the people of Iraq'. Prime Minister Salih said, The new federal laws would be in harmony with the KRGs existing Oil and Gas Law and would provide stability and the regulatory glue that holds Iraq together. He said, The KRGs management of oil and gas fields has, since 2007, attracted over US$10 billion new investment in exploration and development activities from more than 40 companies from 17 countries around the world, and this should be harnessed to its full potential for the benefit of all Iraqi people. Dr. Ashti Hawrami, the KRG Minister of Natural Resources, said the money from Baghdad would be allocated by the KRG to the producing companies In line with the KRGs contractual obligations and the contributions made by the companies to the oil export from the Region. Dr. Hawrami said, The payments will be reinvested by the companies to boost production levels in the Kurdistan Region and, in due course, significantly boost Iraqi and thereby KRG revenues. In the period 27 March 29 April, a further 4.5 million barrels of oil were exported from the Kurdistan Region through Turkey, at an average rate of 135,000 bpd, said Dr. Hawrami. He noted: The start of the payments will only serve to add confidence in and further strengthen our policy which is on track for an increase in oil export to 200,000 bpd by the end of this year. http://www.peyamner.com/details.aspx?l=4&id=233069
Hahaha Well played erbil, well played! that means Iraq will only get 50% of our oil income, while we get 17% of all of Iraqs income + KRG local sales.
indeed , well they want us to stay part of Iraq so they have to listen to our demands not vice versa , or we could have 100% profit from the sales so we are still missing out by 23% of total amount of oil sold.
by Staff Writers Oslo (AFP) May 11, 2011 Norwegian oil firm DNO, among the first to operate in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein, said Wednesday it would finally receive payment for crude oil exports from the Kurdish area of Iraq. The overdue payment is made possible by a recent agreement between Baghdad and Kurdish authorities. "A first cash advance to DNO of 110 million dollars has now been confirmed by the Kurdistan Regional Government and forms a basis for increased activities by DNO in Kurdistan going forward," DNO managing director Helge Eide said when presenting the group's quarterly earnings. DNO has been present in Iraqi Kurdistan since 2004. Its activities in the autonomous province had been troubled by a long dispute Baghdad and authorities in Kurdistan, which have argued over payments, revenue sharing and the central government's refusal to recognise Kurdish oil contracts. The company started exporting crude oil from the Tawke field in 2009 but suspended exports shortly afterwards because it had not been paid. Exports restarted in February this year following an agreement between the two sides whereby Baghdad agreed to pay for the expenses of oil companies working in the region. Last week, Baghdad finally transferred 243 million dollars destined to payment for oil companies operating out of Kurdistan. This "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," Kurdish Prime Minister Barham Salih said in a statement. The Tawke field currently produces some 65,000 barrels a day, DNO said Wednesday. The deal between Baghdad and the KRG came too late for DNO to include the Tawke field revenue in its first quarter earnings, it said. The company lost 65.4 million kroner (8.3 million euros, $12.0 million) in the first quarter, down from a 14.8 million kroner net profit for the same period last year. http://www.energy-daily.com/reports...ally_be_paid_for_Kurdish_oil_exports_999.html
more oil gets found in defacto Kurdish state in iraq. 31 May 2011. Shares in Western Zagros Resources are up 35% on Tuesday following the companys announcement of an oil discovery in the Jeribe Formation at the Sarqala-1 exploration well in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The company says the Jeribe Formation flowed light, 40 degrees API oil at a stabilized rate of 6,000 barrels per day over the 24 hours of the initial flow period. This rate was achieved through a 36/64 inch choke at a flowing well head pressure of 3,900 psi and without any stimulation. No water was produced during this flow. Simon Hatfield, CEO of Western Zagros commented: http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2011/05/31/westernzagros-strikes-oil-in-kurdistan-shares-rocket/
June 7, 2011 OSLO, DNO International ASA, Oslo, has gauged a flow of 4 MMscfd of gas through a 24/64-in. choke on an open hole test after drilling 25 m into the Cretaceous interval at the Summail-1 exploratory well on the Dohuk license in Iraqi Kurdistan. Drilling will continue through the entire Cretaceous section, estimated to be 800 m thick, and testing will be undertaken as required. DNO will then set casing and drill into the Jurassic and Triassic intervals. Meanwhile, on the Erbil license, test production at the Bastora-1A horizontal sidetrack has stabilized at 1,700-1,800 b/d compared with early rates of 2,000-2,300 b/d of 18-19° gravity oil on a downhole jet pump. Produced crude is trucked to Tawke oil field facilities on the Tawke license, which DNO operates with 55% interest. The 600-m horizontal section was drilled through one of the oil-filled carbonate zones with the objectives of penetrating multiple fracture systems to enhance productivity and furthermore enabling the well to be used in an early production concept. Flow-tests will continue in order to acquire more production and reservoir information that will serve as an important input to the development plan to be prepared for the Bastora and Benenan oil discoveries. DNO will issue a declaration of commercial discovery for the two discoveries to the Kurdistan Regional Government by June 25, 2011. DNO is operator of the Dohuk and Erbil licenses with 40% interest in each. Meanwhile, DNO confirmed deposit to its account of $103.7 million for February and March crude oil exports previously approved for payment by the KRG.
Hess Corp. (HES), the New York-based oil company, and Petroceltic International Plc (PCI) agreed to explore two fields in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. The two companies signed a production-sharing agreement for the Dinarta and Shakrok blocks with the Kurdistan Regional Government, Dublin-based Petroceltic said in a statement today. Both blocks will be operated by Hess, with Petroceltic and the KRG each taking a 20 percent interest. Iraq resumed oil exports from the semi-autonomous Kurdish region earlier this year, ending a yearlong halt caused by a dispute over oil revenue between local authorities and Baghdad. Kurdistan has attracted more than $10 billion in energy investments from more than 40 companies from 17 countries, Regional Government Prime Minister Barham Salih said on May 5. “These highly prospective blocks add further high-impact exploration potential to our portfolio,” Petroceltic’s Chief Executive Officer Brian O’Cathain said in a statement. “While significant discoveries have already been made, the Kurdistan region of Iraq remains a vastly under-explored area with huge potential.” To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Swint in London at bswint@bloomberg.net http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...to-explore-two-iraqi-fields-in-kurdistan.html Barham Saleh Kurdistan PM said on 5th of June that there are currently 40 companies across the globe that have come to invest in kurdistan at a net worth totaling of 10 billion Dollars . last week Afren a British oil company came to kurdistan and bought shares worth $588 million in kurdistan oil fields . according to telegraph newspaper the company contracted 2 oil fields containing 1 billion barrels of oil in Ayn sufna and Bardarash . the company has said the oil fields can produce 75000 barrels of oil on a daily bases for the next 5 years .
By Shwan Zulal: The rush for Kurdish oil and gas was stepped up a notch last week. More options were exercised and two hydrocarbon deal done plus there was renewed interest from Vallares. The Canadian ShaMaran Petroleum and the Australia Oil Search announced that they have exercised an option from a 2009 seismic deal and entered into a PSC (Production Sharing Contract) for the Taza block. Meanwhile, UK-based Afren announced that it has bought into two PSCs in the Kurdistan Region for $588 mlnimum, which amounts to a 60 per cent stake in Barda Rash. They acquired the interest from Komet Group and a further 20 per cent interest in Ain Sifni, which was granted by the KRG (Kurdistan Regional Government). Hess Corporation from the US, and its Irish partner Petroceltic, announced the finalisation of two PSCs. The deal stipulates that Hess will be the operator and this will give it a 64 per cent participating interest and 80 per cent paying interest in the blocks, according to the company. The block is located north west of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq. Furthermore, the Spanish oil and gas group Repsol has signed agreements with the KRG for the exploration of two blocks in the west of the Kurdistan Region which have been under negotiation for the past 12 month, reports Reuters. In yet another development, it has emerged that Tony Hayward’s investments vehicle, Vallares, has been looking at DANA gas, FT reports. Dana Gas is a private sector natural gas company and it has a market cap of $1bn. DANA produces 65,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day of oil, gas and natural gas liquids. It has operations in the UAE, Egypt and the Kurdistan Region. Vallares has other potential targets in sight, including Turkish Genel Energy, an independent exploration and production company operating in the Kurdistan Region and currently one of the biggest oil producers in the Region. While the deal-making continues in the Kurdistan Region and investors appear to have overcome their scepticism about the political situation, the Iraqi central government’s rhetoric has not abated. The KRG managed to come to an ad hoc agreement with Baghdad in January this year, which included 19 points and lead to the resumption of oil exports and the release of payments withheld by Baghdad. Observing the current development, it appears that neither side have kept to the January agreement. The KRG has signed new oil contracts and Baghdad has not implemented its side of the bargain. The challenge for the KRG – and the list of demands put to the Iraqi PM, Nuri Al-Maliki – has been that the demands involve complicated legislation on issues of energy, Presidency Council and other intricate matters which are likely to ferment in parliament for a long time before reaching the committees and becoming law. The consensus in Iraq has always been that, no matter what Maliki has promised or the KRG undertook, it is likely that the overall structure of the Iraqi hydrocarbon industry and future exports will be decided in the backrooms among the political elite rather than in parliament. Nevertheless, it is becoming apparent that the January agreement is a short-term rapprochement, which enables oil to flow from Kurdistan to boost Iraqi oil exports, and by no means is it a concrete deal. Under the terms of the export deal, part of the proceeds from the KRG’s oil sales will pay for the costs of oil development incurred during the life of the contracts. The rest goes into the central government’s budget, of which 17 per cent is given back to the KRG as its share of the overall Iraqi budget. The Iraqi government and the energy committee are at loggerheads over the future of Iraq’s oil and gas. The government wants to go ahead with a new licensing round, with or without the enactment of the new hydrocarbon law, while the committee wants to stop granting any new licences in January next year unless the law is passed. Meanwhile the Kurdistan Region has resumed exporting oil since the January agreement. However, Kurdish ministers are becoming more frustrated with the lack political progress in Baghdad. It appears that the KRG has lost patience, because of the continual political squabbling in Baghdad, and gone ahead with granting new PSCs this week. It is not clear if there are any more deals coming soon, but the new-found confidence among investors and the opening of both the US and UK consulates in the Region has given a boost to investors’ appetite for risk-taking in the Region. Moreover, the Hayward and Rothschilds interest in Kurdistan has drawn attention to the Region. The Iraqi government has yet to comment on the new deals and the deputy PM for Energy, Hussein Shahristani, would most likely consider the deals ‘unconstitutional’. The bold move by the KRG in defying the central government’s authority and going ahead with the granting new PCSs, indicates a new-found confidence and could defiantly lead to a showdown between the architect of Kurdish oil deals, KRG Natural Resources minister Ashti Hawrami, and Shahristani. http://kurdistantribune.com/2011/kurdistan-region-defies-baghdad-grants-oil-contracts/
11/08/2011 13:13 Erbil, August 10 (AKnews) Gulf Keystone has stuck a well in Kurdistan that could yield 1.9 billion barrels of oil. The Sheikh Adi well is close to Gulfs giant discovery at Shaikan estimated at 4.9bn to 10.8bn barrels. Shares in the oil company jumped 6 per cent yesterday. John Gerstenlauer, chief operating officer of Gulf Keystone, said: "The Sheikh Adi oil in place numbers are all the more significant due to our 80pc interest in the block". The claim has been brought by Excalibur Ventures LLC, described on its website as offering advisory services related to Iraq and run by a former security consultant, Rex Wempen. Excalibur is claiming that it introduced Gulf Keystone Petroleum's management to opportunities in Iraq's Kurdistan region and had a contract to develop the area together three years ago. Gulf Keystone, which is vigorously defending itself, is expected to argue that it never had a contract with Excalibur, but admit that its chief executive Todd Kozel had worked with Mr Wempen through a private company Texas Keystone. PS http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/2/256435/
September 16, 2011 SEOUL, S. Korea, A Korean consortium led by the Korea National Oil Corporation will develop a super-size oil field with an estimated deposit of 1.9 billion barrels of oil and build social infrastructure in Kurdistan autonomous region in Iraq's north. It looks as though Korean businesses will after all take a brisk part in Iraq's postwar reconstruction in the area. According to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy on Wednesday, Kurdish Regional Government Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and a senior executive of the KNOC officially signed a contract on the development of eight oil blocks and the sharing of oil production in Erbil in the northern Iraqi region of Kurdistan. As a result, the KNOC obtained the right to develop two undeveloped blocks presumed to have oil deposits and to take smaller stakes in six other blocks in Kurdistan. The total estimated deposit in these eight blocks is approximately 7.2 billion barrels,www.ekurd.netof which the KNOC has secured about 1.9 billion, the equivalent of two years' consumption for all of South Korea. The KNOC said the Kurdish oil blocks are the largest oil fields Korea has ever developed overseas. Test production is to begin in three to four years. The two sides also signed an agreement for a package deal that includes crude oil development and social infrastructure construction in the Kurdish region. The SOC consortium will consist of seven Korean construction companies, including Hyundai Engineering and Construction, Ssangyong Engineering and Construction, and Kolon Engineering and Construction. They will build infrastructure worth US$2.1 billion, including electrical works ($700 million) and water supply and sewers ($1.4 billion). Kurdistan Oil Project Flops An oil project in Kurdish northern Iraq into which the Korea National Oil Corporation had poured about US$400 million has proved unfeasible. The project was agreed in February 2008 between then president-elect Lee Myung-bak and Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani of the autonomous regional government, who was visiting Seoul. The contract was signed in June that year. At that time, the project was touted as success for Lees "resource diplomacy. The KNOC had boasted it secured about 1.9 billion barrels of oil, the equivalent of two years' consumption for all of Korea. But according to data KNOC gave to Grand National Party lawmaker Lee Hak-jae of the National Assembly Knowledge Economy Committee on Thursday, drilling at five oil fields -- Bazian, Sangaw North, Sangaw South, Qush Tappa, and Hawler Area -- showed that they have nearly no economic value. Some had no oil deposits at all, while deposits at others fell far short of expectations. Still others fields contained either water or a small amount of natural gas instead of crude oil. KNOC gave $211.4 million to the Kurdistan regional government after the contract was signed and spent another $188.68 million on drilling. "This is a typical case of failure in overseas resource development caused by a hurry to achieve impressive results, without a proper feasibility study being done first," the lawmaker said. "We need to thoroughly review all overseas resource development projects." http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2011/9/invest735.htm
September 20, 2011 LONDON, Kurdistan-focused explorer Gulf Keystone said it raised $200 million in a placing to help accelerate the development of the massive oil discoveries it has made in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq. The company said on Tuesday it issued 91 million new shares in an oversubscribed placing at a price of 140 pence, representing a 14 percent discount to Monday's closing price. Gulf Keystone, which confirmed on Monday that it was considering its options with regards to a fundraising, said the proceeds would be used to fund an aggressive exploration and appraisal programme in Kurdistan where it has found at least 12 billion barrels of oil so far. Gulf Keystone Petroleum GKP, Kurdistan region of Iraq. The company is planning to build a pipeline from its Shaikan oil field to the vital Kirkuk-Ceyhan export pipeline,www.ekurd.netwhich transports some 500,000 barrels per day of crude from northern Iraq to Turkey. Analysts estimate the cost of building the pipeline at between $100 million to $150 million. Cash will also be spent on a development plan for the field, upgrading production facilities at Shaikan and drilling another well on its Sheikh Adi oil field. The company, which is seeking a move to London's main market from its junior AIM market, also plans to raise additional funds from selling a minority interest in one of its Kurdistan blocks. Kurdistan has enjoyed a surge of investment in the past year as relations between its regional government and Iraq's national government in Baghdad improved. BP's former boss Tony Hayward staged a reverse takeover of Turkish explorer Genel Energy earlier this month to create a Kurdistan-focused group worth $4 billion. Shares in Gulf Keystone, which have gained 26 percent in the last month, closed at 162.5 pence on Monday valuing the company at 1.2 billion pounds ($1.9 billion). ($1 = 0.639 British Pounds) Copyright ©, respective author or news agency, Reuters
PUKmedia 2011-09-20 17:20:12 Kurdistan Regional Government has decided on Tuesday to disclose the details of all its oil contracts signed with foreign companies. The contracts will be then sent to Kurdistan regions parliament, where they are supposed to be further discussed by the lawmakers. http://www.pukmedia.com/english/ind...ontracts&catid=29:kurdistan-region&Itemid=385
good for iraq , this is about kurdistan's oil not iraq's , go to an iraqi site and ask the iraqis about their oil .
the kurds and their lands was attached to iraq in 1923 without their own consent by Brits and french . next ?
we have a long old history and the fact that kurds living in there lands are only 100% inhabited by kurds prove we are native besides all the genocides that were done to wipe us our by Arabs and turks. This map was made Mahmud al-Kashgari in 1074 Look at the map you can see middle east ( Erdul Ekrad ) in Arabic which means "land of Kurds". Source http://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kâşgarlı_Mahmud The map of Ottoman Empire was made in 1893 during Abdul Hamid II There is Kurdistan If you Arabic alphabet There is wide land called Kurdistan It means that Kurdistan was present before Turkey as a regional name. Source http://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmanlı_İmparatorluğu next ?
and kirkuk is within kurdistans borders according the ottoman map . anything else i can help you with Mr BS artist !!!
According to that map many Turkish areas that are populated mainly by Kurds today are not a part of Kurdistan though. See the north of Wan, for instance. They were traditionally Armenian cities.
22-Sep-11 [16:55] Peyamner Erbil September 22 (PNA) - The Kurdish government signed tens of contracts to develop the oil industry in the region, ranging from exploration, production, and development in 39 different sites in Kurdistan. Kurdish ministry of mineral wealth published these contracts on its web site with 20 international companies. These contracts vary from preliminary ones to final operational agreements. Taktak and Taoki are the biggest oil producing field in Kurdistan for time being, with production capacity of 100-150 thousand b/d. All these agreements depend on the terms of the Kurdish oil and gas law, but these are rejected by the central government that led to boycotting all oil companies working in Kurdistan. source: Aswat al-Iraq
