Thread: Archive Latest News - Think Tank - 15/04/08 - 26/08/08

Sterling Energy To Focus On Kurdistan, Madagascar

Sterling Energy, an AIM-listed independent oil & gas exploration and production company with interests in the Gulf of Mexico, Africa and the Middle East, said Friday it anticipates an active 18 months during which it will focus on realising the very significant potential of Kurdistan and Madagascar prospects, where the company is moving quickly towards drilling its first wells.

The Chief E.x.e.c.utive, Graeme Thomson, said: "Implementation of the newly adopted strategy of focusing the Company's resources on high impact opportunities in Africa and the Middle East is well underway and already delivering tangible results. This can be seen in the recent completion of farmouts and disposals which have contributed to the changing shape of our risk/reward profile and enhanced our cash flows.
...............................

"Independent consultants have evaluated two of our prospects in Kurdistan and Madagascar and indicated unrisked best estimate net prospective resources of over 500 million barrels of oil, with an unrisked high net estimate of 1,900 million barrels of oil net to Sterling's current interests.

"Seismic acquisition is planned for Kurdistan by the end of Q3 and drilling is anticipated to commence in 2009. A site survey is presently underway in Madagascar on a very large prospect and we expect drillingin 2009."

http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidDN...gOil%20&%20Gas

Arab allies seek change from next US President

Washington's Sunni Arab allies hope the next US administration will adopt strategies to repair damage done by the Bush team in the troubled Middle East and curb the influence of Shiite Iran.


Whether Republican or Democrat, the allies want the new administration to push the stalled Middle East peace process and make good on a pledge by US President George W. Bush to set up an independent Palestinian state.

"The policy of the Bush administration in the Middle East failed on many fronts," said former Jordanian prime minister Taher Masri.

"The new US administration should evaluate the mistakes of the previous one and be courageous enough to recognise the real problems and work toward real solutions on top of which the Palestinian issue."

There is common belief in the region that the Bush policies -- namely the US-led war on Iraq -- have bolstered the role of radicals across the volatile Middle East.

"The Lebanese crisis was the last example where America did not support the moderate camp," said Masri in reference to a crippling 18-month standoff between the Western-backed majority and the Syria- and Iran-backed opposition.

A senior Arab official insisted that US strategy "has been vague since the 2003 toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime. It is time to establish a clear policy in the region and tackle the Iranian influence in Iraq."

According to Arab diplomats, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, have "agreed on this position at recent high-level meetings."

Critics say that the toppling of Saddam's Sunni Muslim regime emboldened non-Arab Iran and its Shiite Muslim allies across the region.

"The Iraq war has imposed new realities on the Middle East," an editorial in the pan-Arab Al-Hayat newspaper said.

"It has made Israel more capable of avoiding peace... (and) reinforced the tendency for hegemony among the leaders of the Islamic republic and allowed them to work on spreading the Iranian revolution."

For Egypt's state-run Al-Ahram weekly the Iraq invasion "led the world's most feared imperial power to infamy and bankruptcy."

"The US invasion of Iraq arrested the Middle East region's slow transition to democracy and placed latent religious fundamentalist forces at the forefront of resistance."

The Carnegie think-tank says the new man at the White House must "restore credibility" and reach out to political and civil society players across the Middle East to help forge true democracy as preached by Bush.

"Credibility will not be restored by new rhetoric but by consistent efforts to promote attainable goals," says Carnegie's Middle East Programme director Marina Ottawa.

Barack Obama, who clinched the Democratic nomination for the White House, has promised "change," but his declared support for Israel and remarks on Jerusalem -- which Palestinians consider the capital of their future state -- sparked anger.

"I will bring to the White House an unshakeable commitment to Israel's security... Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided," Obama told a powerful US-Israel lobby group in Washington on Wednesday.

Obama also pledged to do "everything" to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon but said he "would be willing to lead tough and principled diplomacy with the appropriate Iranian leader."

"There's no greater threat to Israel or to the peace and stability of the region than Iran."

Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat summed up the situation: "His remarks on Jerusalem cast doubt over the chances of peace."

Iran slammed Obama's comments regarding its nuclear programme.
"These comments are certainly one sided and unreal, and are completely contrary to the nature of the Iranian peaceful nuclear programme and thus unacceptable," foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said.

In addition to backing the Lebanon opposition, Iran is also a staunch vocal supporter of Islamist Hamas, which seized power in the Gaza Strip last June from the Fatah forces of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

Hamas and Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah group are both arch enemies of Israel.

Washington also accuses Iran of arming and training Shiite militias in Iraq, a charge denied by Tehran.
"If the United States wants to preserve its alliances in the region it must get rid of its rhetoric and ad hoc strategies and invest in real action," said Jordan political analyst Mohammed Masri.

Arab allies seek change from next US president - Middle East News

There Was No Political Pressure In Oil Tender, Iraq's Oil Minister

Iraq`s oil minister said on Thursday that there had been no political pressure regarding exclusion of neighboring countries from the list determined as a result of a tender aiming at operation of the oil beds in Iraq.

Iraqi Minister Husayn al-Shahristani told A.A that all countries were free to participate in the tenders aiming at improvement and operation of the oil beds in his country.

He said all companies could participate and succeed in such tenders as long as they had the necessary qualifications.

The Iraqi minister said the first phase of the tender was for the operation of large oil beds in the country, and therefore, only the world`s biggest oil companies could participate in such phase as the primary requirement was to have more production than the existing production at these oil beds.

He said Turkish companies could not participate in the tender as their production capacity was not sufficient.

"The improvement and operation of the oil beds are subject to technical rules and it has no political side," Al-Shahristani said.

The Iraqi minister also said that the second and third phases of the tender aiming at operation of medium and small-sized oil beds respectively would be held next year. "Turkish companies can compete and succeed in such phases," he said.

Al-Shahristani said any agreement on oil was within the scope of responsibilities of the central government of Iraq.

He said Iraqi officials warned all the companies that signed an agreement on the issue with the local administration in the north of the country.

Iraq wanted to improve its natural gas resources as well, Al-Shahristani said and added that Iraq desired to transfer the excessive natural gas, which it would have after the natural gas reserves in Akkas and Al Mansuriyah regions started operating, to Turkey through two pipelines.

There Was No Political Pressure In Oil Tender, Iraq's Oil Minister

Kurdish forces order out Iraq oil workers, Sources

A drilling team exploring in an Iraqi oilfield briefly withdrew this week after being warned off by Kurdish security forces, oil industry sources said on Friday.

Engineers familiar with the incident said it had no impact on production.

But it underlines rivalries between Baghdad and the Kurdish regional government over territory and rights to Iraq's huge oil reserves, which lie mostly in the Kurdish north or the Shi'ite south of the country.

An Iraqi government oil official, who declined to be identified, said members of the Kurdish Peshmerga security force had taken over the Khurmala oil field on Thursday and sent away employees working there.

The field, which produces about 35,000 barrels per day of oil, lies 65 km (40 miles) northwest of Kirkuk in northern Iraq, close to the border of Iraq's largely autonomous Kurdish region.

The Iraqi Oil Ministry quickly took the employees back to the field and they resumed working, the official said. By Friday, Kurdish forces had left the area, he said.

"We consider this an irresponsible act against the Iraqi oil facilities," the official said.

Two engineers working for the Iraq Drilling Co in Kirkuk described a more limited skirmish, saying a crew was exploring in part of the Khurmala field when a Kurdish force arrived.

The Kurdish force told the crew the land was part of the Kurdish regional government's territory and they had no right to explore there, the engineers, who also declined to be named, said.

The force ordered the crew to leave the area, and it did so, they said.

The drilling company immediately contacted the Iraqi Oil Ministry in Baghdad and told them about the incident.

The engineers said the incident had had no effect on production from the field.

The head of Kirkuk provincial council, Rizgar Ali, said he had no knowledge of the incident.

Disputes between the Kurdish region and Baghdad have delayed a federal oil law in Iraq for over a year.

Kirkuk is also a focus of rivalry between ethnic groups, largely because of its oil wealth.

Kurdish forces order out Iraq oil workers, sources say - Yahoo! News UK

Oil ministry reopens oilfield in Kirkuk

The oil ministry decided on Friday to reopen Oubat khormala oilfield in the city of Kirkuk, a source from the ministry said.

“The ministry reopened the 35,000-barallel Khormala oilfield in Kirkuk after the Peshmerga forces have controlled it for one day,” the source, who asked for anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq (VOI).

“The ministry took appropriate measures within this context,” he added.

No word was available from the Peshmerga on the incident.

The Khormala is part of the Kirkuk’s oilfields. It is a disputed issue between the federal government in Baghdad and Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

Aswat Aliraq

Iraq PM in Tehran for US Troop Talks

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki arrived in Tehran on Saturday for talks with Iranian leaders amid debate over a mooted deal on a long-term US troop presence in Iraq, state T.V. footage showed.

The Shiite premier was met by First Vice President Parviz Davoudi on his third visit to Tehran since taking office two years ago.

The new trip comes amid strong criticism in Baghdad and Tehran over the proposed deal to maintain US soldiers in the country beyond 2008.

"The prime minister's visit to Iran is considered a step in a series of visits ... and to form a strategy committee to develop the relationship between the two nations," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told AFP.

He will brief Iranian leaders on "the Iraqi vision, which is that it will not serve as a base or staging ground to launch attacks against neighbouring countries," said Dabbagh.

US President George W. Bush and Maliki agreed in principle last November to sign a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) by the end of July, but negotiations appear to have hit a snag, amid protests in Iraq.
Dabbagh has stressed that Iraq has a "different vision" from the United States over the proposed deployment and wants to protect its own national interests.

Although Iran and Shiite-majority Iraq waged a war between 1980 and 1988 in which around one million people died, ties have warmed considerably since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime.

Maliki is expected to receive a warm welcome in Iran where he was exiled during the dictatorship.

The prime minister made his first official trip to Iran in September 2006, while the first visit by an Iraqi premier since the US-led invasion was made by Maliki's predecessor Ibrahim al-Jaafari in July 2005.

Maliki's visit poses a delicate balancing act for Washington, which accuses Tehran of backing Shiite militias and bedevilling Iraq's transition to democracy in the aftermath of the US-led invasion.
The charges are vehemently denied by Iran.

US ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker stressed in Washington on Thursday that Iran and Iraq were neighbours and had to conduct a relationship. "The question is: what kind of relationship is it going to be?" he said.

President Jalal Talabani told Iranian state T.V. : "I hope that Maliki goes to Iran and he is in a strong position and when he comes back he will be in a stronger position."

Maliki's visit is also expected to touch on economic issues, especially oil exports as well as electricity and water supplies, amid shortages of both in the war-torn nation, his office said.

PUKmedia :: English - Iraq PM in Tehran for US TroopTalks

Iraq OPEC Chief Unaware Of Meeting Says More Oil Won't Help

Iraq's OPEC governor said Saturday that he's unaware of any plans for the cartel to meet ahead of its next schedule gathering in September to discuss record high oil prices.

"We haven't been informed yet of any OPEC emergency meeting," Falah Alamri, who's also head of Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization, told Dow Jones Newswires by telephone from Baghdad.

Officials from the 13-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are again coming under increasing pressure to agree to pump more crude as oil prices closed at record highs Friday amid concerns over supply.

Alamri spoke to Dow Jones Newswires on his way to Vienna, Austria, where he will attend a scheduled OPEC administrative meeting at the group's headquarters.

OPEC officials have so far rejected the need for an emergency meeting to discuss boosting output, blaming a mix of geopolitics and market speculators for high oil prices.

"There is plenty of oil in the market, the problem is that the market is hijacked by speculators," Alamri said.

Company News Story

LUKoil hopes to land Iraq Contract after Oil Law adopted

Russia's largest independent oil producer LUKoil is hoping for success in negotiations with Iraq on a deal to develop Iraq's largest oil field, West Qurna-2, the company's CEO said on Saturday.

"We are hoping for the successful completion of negotiations after an oil law is adopted," Vagit Alekperov said.

He said talks are ongoing with Iraq's oil ministry, as well as with the country's top leadership.

Iraq and LUKoil agreed earlier this year to set up a working group to update a contract to develop West Qurna-2.

The contract to develop the second leg of the oil field was initially signed on March 21, 1997, under the reign of Saddam Hussein. LUKoil operated the first phase of West Qurna and is looking to develop West Qurna-2, located in southern Iraq. The deal for both stages has been signed for 23 years, but was frozen in 2002.

West Qurna-2's proven recoverable reserves have been estimated at around 6 billion barrels of oil. Under the terms of the contract, output could amount to 4.8 billion barrels of oil and 56.4 billion cubic meters of associated gas. Investment in the project could reach $4 billion.

Baghdad is also discussing the West Qurna-2 oil field with Chevron and Total. However, analysts say that Iraq is likely to resume work at West Qurna-2 with LUKoil after Russia recently wrote off the bulk of the country's debt of around $12 billion.

RIA Novosti - Business - LUKoil hopes to land Iraq contract after oil law adopted

Iraq Oil Min: South Oil Chief Leaby Removed On Own Request

Iraq Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani Saturday said that the head of the South Oil Co., the country's largest state-run oil company, Jabbar Al Leaby, was removed from his post upon his own request, and was appointed an adviser in the oil ministry.

Leaby, the veteran chief of Iraq's largest state-run oil company, was replaced last month by his deputy Kifah Nauman.

Al-Shahristani was speaking to Iraqi lawmakers at a rare session.

"He asked me to remove him," al-Shahristani responded to a question raised by an MP why Leaby was removed from his post. "Before I signed the letter (removing him) I asked him if I should go ahead and sign the letter removing him and he ( Leaby) said yes," the minister said in his first remarks on Leaby's removal.

Leaby has overseen operations at South Oil since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime five years ago. The company, headquartered in Basra, is the largest oil producer in Iraq, accounting for around 1.6 million barrels a day of exports.

Iraq has steadily increased its output to about 2.5 million barrels a day of crude since the beginning of the year, making it a more influential producer in the 13-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

A popular tribal figure in Basra, Al Leaby was one of the main figures behind maintaining South Oil's output during the worst phases of looting following the U.S. invasion and the immediate breakdown of law and order in the country.

His departure from South Oil may indicate a worsening struggle between political factions in Basra province and growing unease among Iraq's most experienced technocrats over plans by lawmakers to decentralize the oil industry and introduce new oil legislation.

Iraq's proposed oil law could allow for the break up of the country's existing state-controlled oil companies and the introduction of international oil majors like Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

Company News Story

High oil prices generate record revenues for Iraq - Oil Minister

Iraqi oil minister Hussein Shahrestani said Saturday Iraq realized record revenues generated by crude oil sales, and added that Iraq would increase oil production to around 4.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in next five years.

Shahrestani, speaking before the parliament, said Iraq produced 1.9 million bpd in 2005 and the output was currently at 2.5 million bpd.

High oil prices generated record revenues for the Iraqi government, said the minister, who noted that USD 28.5 billion were income in five months in 2008 compared to USD 32 billion in the entire 2007.

The Iraqi oil ministry plans to increase crude oil production to 4.5 million bpd in five years, and to some six million bpd in 10 years.
Iraqi oil ministry has improved drilling equipment thus more crude oil was produced, he said.

Shahrestani said some of the Iranian border guards were banning Iraqi oil engineers from working in some of the common oil fields in the border Emara area under pretext of lack of border signs.

He said Iraq has reduce imports of car fuel to around 14 million liters per year against 21 million liters in 2005.

Shahrestani also pointed to the lessening of sabotage actions against the oil facilities nationwide thus bringing down losses from around USD six billion in 2005 and 2006 to less than USD billion this year.

The Iraqi ministry of oil is in the process of buildint an oil refinery in Al-Nasiriya with a production capacity of 300,000 bpd, in addition to three other refineries in Al-Emara, Kirkuk and Karbala with 150,000 bpd output.

كونا : Hig oil prices generate record revenues for Iraq - oil minister - الشؤون السياسية - 07/06/2008