First quarter of 2008 Iraq signed contracts with three small companies from the Czech Republic to help modernize the Basra refinery, an important plant in the South.
Deals range between $50 and $70 million and one of them includes the setting up of a new refinery to help increase production capacity with 70,000 barrels per day.
In June 2008, several major companies were short listed for oil contracts, including BP, Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron, Sinopec and Total, but the announcement of the winners has been delayed several times.
The plans were ultimately cancelled in September 2008 because the projects could no longer be completed within the settled timeframe. In January this year 2009, Technip, an Italian-based company, won a contract to build a refinery in Kerbala, and Stone & Webster, part of Shaw Group Inc, won two projects for the redesigning of two plants in Maysan and Kirku.
In May, Foster Wheeler was awarded a $128 million contract for the final design of an oil refinery in the south with a production capacity of 300 thousand barrels per day.
Iraq also signed a controversial deal with South Korea where the former will provide infrastructure such as refineries and generators worth $3.55 billion, gaining some rights to the fields of Basra in exchange. This region concentrates most of Iraq’s crude oil.
The deals signed with major oil companies are service contracts. It is rather unusual for these companies to embark on such projects, which are generally carried out by smaller specialist firms. Large companies generally prefer investments that offer them a stake in the ownership of the oil and thus the possibility for high profits.
According to specialists in oil industry research, the reason behind such actions is that they see these deals as stepping stones towards more profitable projects. All in all, these deals are speeding up the previously sluggish development of Iraq’s oil industry.
**************************************
Article may be reprinted online or offline as long
as this box remains and hyperlinked online. Written
by Darren Chabluk for http://DrDinar.com/blog
**************************************
Yes, these deals may be stepping stones toward moving forward in the Iraq oil industry but seems to me like a lot of `maybes` a lot `up in the air`. There doesn`t seem to be a sense of `certainty` in any of these `contracts`. It`s like, `who is going to make the first move`. From reading the article it all seems so `foggy`. BUT, I have to add that not really KNOWING what`s happening behind the scenes in Iraq itself and with these companies and these contracts, it`s very hard to put the finger on the pulse of the whole Iraq oil industry and get a `REAL READING`. I guess we`ll just have to wait and see how all these plays out. HOWEVER, I do believe that the bottom line is really all about Iraq itself – when and how it`s going to stabilize and resolve its own inner conflicts – the lifting of the sanctions are in there also. Before any of THAT happens I don`t see anything major coming to fruition, be it in the oil industry or any where else. But when it DOES happen, there won`t be `any hesitation` as the song goes.
It will all be upward and oward and THAT would make for a VERY STRONG Dinar. 
This news about the Oil is great but sad none of the US companies got the opportunity to get oil contracts but what I cant figure out is things are getting better in Iraq with things going on such as the open of the stock exchange a couple of years ago and other things. But what I can figure out why the (IQD) Iraq Dinar has not been revalued to what the neighboring countries are at in Price for there dinar.
Monique, you have made a lot of good points, especially about a strong dinar. Iraq has lots and lots of oil, and many nations including the U.S. need that oil. Things will begin to fall into place soon enough.
Good news continues to come regarding the progress being made in Iraq. Sooner or later the dinar will take fire. Is there any kind of a reason for the zero dropping obession or is just worry brewing?
Hello , there is going to be the largest international trade fair from the 12th of oct to 15th of oct held in iraq. !!!
the royal dutch shell may put off signing and completing the oil deal with iraq until after jan 2010 elections …. ?????
REf; rigzone.com
Stan,
I did a podcast on the ‘zero dropping’ concern. Its available for download on the blogs main page. You need to listen to this audio file. Both of the august 09 recordings.
Darren
Talks between Iraq and the oil companies, such as the second round of licenses
29 September / September 2009
Baghdad
Held next month in Turkey talks between Iraqi officials and representatives of forty-five oil company specialized out of one hundred and twenty companies to discuss the mechanism and timing of the second licensing round to be held later this year, and aims to develop ten untapped oil fields in different parts of Iraq.
It was announced Salman Abdel Nasser expert at the Southern Oil Company that the fields will be presented for development in southern Iraq is the second phase of the Majnoon and West Qurna in the province of Basra and Halfaya fields in the province of Maysan and Dhi Qar Gharraf in fields and rump and West Kifl and Morgan in the Middle Euphrates region.
And other fields to be covered by development – according to the source of Iraq itself – is a field east of Baghdad in the Baghdad province and Qayyarah and field star in Nineveh province north of the country and the field of Pedra border with Iran in the Wasit province.
And add to the fields in the province of Diyala, a Khashm Red Nadoman, moon and hooks.
According to the expert, the Iraqi future meetings will be held in the Turkish city of Istanbul in the first week of October next, and will answer queries and questions of the companies that received the terms of participation in the forthcoming second round of licensing.
Foreign companies that will be chosen for the development of Iraqi fields Paid tax return for investment
Greater productivity
For his part, Director General at the Ministry of Oil, Munther Hussain “licenses, which plans the Ministry of Oil awarded to companies that have the competence and experience, and winner of Iraq’s condition, competition would drive up the productivity of oil fields previously undeveloped.”
For example, the production capacity estimated Rumaila Basra would rise from one million to two and a half million barrels at two dollars a barrel on the additional product. The companies will pay two dollars one-third of the amount of taxes, as well as the rate paid for the development of Iraqi oil companies for assistance to invest 250 billion dollars to develop production.
The Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani Described last month in a statement to the press the first Iraqi licensing round earlier this year that it “took place in an atmosphere of transparency, competitiveness among the leading international companies after the previous system was entered into contracts with these companies in dark rooms.”
“The contracts that we undertake is currently the service contracts and not sharing contracts, as do most oil states like he did the previous regime involved a contract which was concluded with the Chinese company in the Ahdab in Wasit province (160 km) south of Baghdad, which we converted later to a contract of service” .
S T R A T F O R
GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE
Iraq: Oil Field Deal Signed
November 2, 2009
The Iraqi Oil Ministry signed an initial agreement Nov. 2 with an ENI-led consortium for the development of Zubair oil field, Reuters reported, citing Oil Minister Hussein Shahristani. Some $20 billion in capital and $15 billion in operating expenses will be invested by the ENI group over six years in the 4-billion barrel oil field.
The Iraqi Ministry hopes to sign an initial contract on Nasiriyah in coming days with the Japanese Nippon Oil Corp., Shahristani said. He said several consortiums competing for the 8.7-billion barrel West Qurna oil field have agreed to Baghdad’s terms and a decision by the Iraqi Cabinet will be made on the winning bid within days.