About Iraq
• Population: 31 million estimate
• Iraq became an independent kingdom in 1932
• A republic was proclaimed in 1958
• Began an 8 year long war with Iran in 1980
• Launched an attack on Kuwait in 1990 and was expelled by a US led coalition in 1991
• The US led an invasion of Iraq in 2003 to remove the Saddam Hussein regime
• Iraq’s oil sector is constrained by the lack of investment resulting from years of sanctions and wars.
• Just a fraction of Iraq’s known fields are in development
• Iraq has vast oil reserves that have barely been exploited
• International oil companies have signed service contracts to develop several of the large oil and gas fields
• Iraq has joined the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI)
Oil
Iraq’s oil sector has suffered over the past several decades from sanctions and wars, and its oil infrastructure is in need of modernization and investment. Iraq has nine field that are consider super giants with more than five billion barrels of reserves, and another 22 giant fields with more than one billion barrels of recoverable reserves. An estimated 20 percent of the oil reserves are in the northern region of Kurdistan.
The Iraqi Ministry of Oil signed 12 long-term contracts between November 2008 and May 2010 with international oil companies to develop 14 oil fields. When the fields are fully developed, Iraq may be able to produce 12 million barrels of oil per day. Iraq’s regional oil companies are participating in all contracts. The major challenge to reach the high production targets is investments in infrastructure, new export pipelines, water injection, new ports and security and stability.
The proposed Hydrocarbons Law, which governs oil contracting and regulation, has been under review in the Council of Ministers since October 26, 2008, but has not received final passage. The legislation is also aiming at restoring the national oil company, INOC. Transparency and accountability are key features in the proposed law.
Oil overview 2010
• Proven oil reserves: 115 billion barrels
• Oil production: 2,4 million barrels per day
• Oil consumption: 0,5 million barrels per day
The main oil companies
• BP and CNPC: Rumaila
• West Qurna 1: ExxonMobil and Shell
• West Quarna 2: Lukoil
• Zubair: ENI, Occidental, Kogas
• Majnoon: Shell and Petronas
• Halfaya: CNPC, Petronas, Total
• Gharraf: Petronas and Japex
Natural Gas
Iraq is using some of its gas as fuel for power generation, and some is re-injected to enhance oil recovery. A major share of the gas is flared due to a lack of sufficient infrastructure to utilize it for consumption and export.
Iraq has been signed an agreement with Royal Dutch Shell to implement a 25-year project to capture flared gas and provide it for domestic use. The project will capture flared gas in the Basra province.
The gas industry
• Proven natural gas reserves: 3,2 trillion cubic meters
• Natural gas production: 1,3 billion cubic meters
Main Markets
Markets Under Observation
