Iraq to set up new state oil companies

Jul 30 2013





By Hassan Hafidh



Iraq's cabinet has authorized the Oil Ministry to establish three new public companies, according to a statement from the cabinet published on its website late Monday.



The new companies will be in oil services; crude oil transportation pipelines; and gas transportation pipelines, with capital of 100 billion Iraqi dinars ($84 million), IQD300 billion and IQD200 billion respectively, said the statement.

The ministry already operates several other companies, including the South Oil Co., North Oil Co., Missan Oil Co. and Midland Oil Co. as well as two gas companies that oversee crude oil and gas production.

Iraq, a founding member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, also plans to re-establish the Iraqi national oil company, or INOC, which was merged with the Ministry of Oil in 1987.

 The country's cabinet has been trying to gain parliamentary approval for the plan since 2009 but has met resistance due to a bitter dispute between the assembly's Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish factions over a broader oil and gas law and the distribution of Iraq's oil wealth.

Iraq, the second largest oil producer in OPEC after Saudi Arabia, produces some 3.2 million barrels a day and plans to raise output to 3.5 million by the end of 2013. Its 2014 target is 4.5 million barrels a day.

Write to Hassan Hafidh at hassan.hafidh@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

30-07-13 0850GMT


http://www.zawya.com/story/Iraq_to_set_up_new_state_oil_companies-ZW20130730000028/

[ltr] Source for oil "Awan": the $ 4 billion for the development of national oil companies [/ltr]
[ltr]Posted on Monday, July 29 / July 2013 08:33 [/ltr]
[ltr] Baghdad Awan:[/ltr]
[ltr]An official source at the Oil Ministry, Monday, that his ministry has allocated $ 4 billion for the establishment of three oil companies, among the ministry's efforts to increase production and thus export rates, which amounted to about 2.4 million barrels per day in the first half of this year.[/ltr]
[ltr]The source said, in an exclusive interview with "Awan", that "the ministry is preparing for the introduction of three companies in the first sector of the oil services and the second to transport crude oil and gas third with a capital estimated at $ 4 billion."[/ltr]
[ltr]And that "in order to accommodate the product of oil and gas associated with oil extraction operations, especially in the southern fields, requires the provision of built and how much work that meshes coincide and large investment projects in the country."[/ltr]
[ltr]The source pointed out that "the ministry, within the framework of the investment, also discusses the design and assignment processing and implementation of a central processing station in a new oil field in Basra."[/ltr]
[ltr]Iraq seeks to strengthen its position as the second largest country of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), where the export rates of up to about 2.6 million barrels per day in the conditions of nature.[/ltr]
[ltr]The Oil Ministry announced last Saturday, from reaching the total oil exports for the first half of this year, more than 444 million barrels and revenues exceeded $ 79 billion, as pointed out that 31 international companies bought Iraqi crude oil.[/ltr]
[ltr]The Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) of the ministry in a statement posted on its website, and seen by "Awan" that "total oil exports for the first half of this year amounted to 444.5 million barrels," indicating that "the rate of export Monthly reached 74.8 million barrels at a rate of 2.493 million barrels per day. "[/ltr]

 

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