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IBBC Spring Conference a Huge Success

The Iraq Britain Business Council (IBBC) held its annual Spring Conference at the Mansion House in London and a newly formatted second day forum for Iraqi and UK SMEs to discuss business opportunities at the Royal Overseas League on the 24th and 25th of April.

The event proved to be a huge success, with record attendances and expert speaker contribution fully captivating the positive and progressive forecast for Iraq in 2018. The Conference was chaired by Rasmi Al Jabri, Deputy Chairman and Iraq representative of IBBC, who’s significant standing in Iraq was fundamental to the success of the event.

The first day of the conference, entitled ‘Iraq: Building a diversified and modern economy’ was held at the Mansion House, home of the Lord Mayor of London and featured numerous Iraqi and UK politicians, industry experts, academics, government advisers and more. The day featured the newly incorporated roundtable discussions, which facilitated greater face time with industry experts and politicians and more in-depth discussions.

The main panel sessions focused on a wide range of sectors and industries to fully address the investment opportunities, need for diversification of the economy and progress of Iraq over the last year:

SESSION 1: Finance ‘Major projects – the criteria for and process of obtaining finance for projects in Iraq’

SESSION 2: Technology ‘Developing Iraq’s digital economy’

SESSION 3: Energy and Industry ‘The need for locally available products and services – how two sectors can help diversify Iraq’s Economy’

SESSION 4: Education and Training ‘Developing human capital in Iraq’

A high-level delegation from the Government of Iraq was present, including H.E. Mohammed Shyaa Al-Sudani, Minister of Social Affairs & Acting Minister of Industry and Minerals, Mr Khadhem Al Hassani, Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister of Iraq and H.E. Dr Salih Husain Ali Al Tamimi, the Iraqi Ambassador to the UK, who were all invited to give opening addresses to IBBC Members and guests at the conference.

H.E. Dr Abdul Kariem Al Faisal, Chairman of the PM’s Advisory Commission and Mr Abbas Nasser, Legal Advisor to the Ministry of Transport and H.E. Nawzad Hadi, Governor of Erbil also attended the first day of the conference and held RoundTable discussions with IBBC Member representatives.

Several UK Government officials participated, including Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, The Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Iraq, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan and IBBC President, Jonathan Wilks CMG, Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Republic of Iraq and Baroness Fairhead CBE, Minister of State for Trade and Export Promotion, Department for International Trade, which demonstrates the continuing trend of increased bilateral trade and relations over the last few years between the UK & Iraq.

(Source: IBBC)

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DNO Expands and Accelerates Kurdistan Operations

DNO ASA, the Norwegian oil and gas operator, today announced expansion and acceleration of operations in the Kurdistan region of Iraq while building up its North Sea exposure.

First quarter revenues, the highest in nearly four years, stood at USD 142 million and net profit at USD 18 million. The Company exited the quarter with cash balances of USD 518 million plus USD 76 million in treasury shares and marketable securities.

The Company added a third license in Kurdistan following government and partner approvals of the previously announced transaction with ExxonMobil. Effective 10 April 2018, DNO assumed operatorship of the Baeshiqa license with a 40 percent (32 percent participating) interest alongside ExxonMobil, Turkish Energy Company and the Kurdistan Regional Government.

At the Tawke license, the Company fast tracked development of the Peshkabir field with three new wells. The recently completed Peshkabir-4 well will shortly undergo production testing and the Peshkabir-5 well is drilling ahead at 2,250 meters. The Peshkabir-6 well was spudded as a development well last week and will also explore the field’s deeper Triassic formation.

“We have the wind on our back,” said DNO’s Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani, “with higher oil prices, timely export payments in Kurdistan, a growing portfolio of quality assets, efficient drilling and bold strategy execution.“

On the DNO-operated Tawke license containing the Peshkabir and Tawke fields, 15,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) of production from two Peshkabir wells are comingled with 90,000 bopd from the flagship Tawke field for export through Turkey.

A new Tawke Cretaceous well was brought onstream earlier this month at more than 5,000 bopd. The Company will drill additional Tawke development wells in 2018 following mobilization of a fourth rig.

Elsewhere, the Company acquired 28.71 percent of North Sea-focused Faroe Petroleum plc at a price of GBP 1.25 per share through four separate transactions in April, complementing DNO’s existing portfolio of 19 exploration licenses offshore Norway and the United Kingdom.

DNO’s current cash balance stands at USD 356 million plus USD 280 million in treasury shares and marketable securities. The Company’s outstanding bond debt remains at USD 400 million and the equity ratio at 61 percent.

(Source: DNO)

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Iraq could transport 1m bpd via Aqaba

By John Lee.

Iraq could transport up to a million barrels of oil per day through the Jordanian port of Aqaba (pictured), according to a report from The National.

Ali Nazar Faeq Al Shatari, deputy director general for the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) told The National:

“That project is still in place and we’re going to go ahead with it. We need another outlet for our crude oil,”

There has been little detail on the scheme’s timeline for completion or the scope of the project.

More here.

(Source: The National)

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Positive Indicators at IBBC Conference

At a major Iraqi business event in London on Tuesday, there was a strong sense that Iraq’s perceived risk profile is improving, and that this is an excellent time to do business in the country.

Nearly 300 delegates attended the Iraq Britain Business Council (IBBC)‘s Spring Conference at the Mansion House, which focused on “building a diversified and modern economy“, with many of those flying in from Iraq specially for the occasion.

This record attendance was just one of the positive indicators in evidence at the event, with speakers pointing to improved security, better relations between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the central government in Baghdad, and a growing trend towards up-skilling and capacity building in the local population; here at Iraq Business News, we’ve seen a positive indicator of our own, with a 15 percent increase in our website traffic over the past year.

Closing the conference’s first day, IBBC Managing Director Christophe Michels also drew attention to the growing number of companies joining his organisation, and a much more relaxed atmosphere in Iraq’s major cities.

The second day of the conference also saw a full house at the Royal Overseas League to discuss business opportunities for Iraqi and British small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

(Picture: Baroness Fairhead CBE, UK Minister of State for Trade and Export Promotion, addressing the conference.)

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Iraq Extends Deadline for Qayara Refinery Bids

By John Lee.

Iraq has extended the deadline to bid for the construction and operation of a new 100,000-bpd Qayara refinery.

The full statement from the Ministry of Oil is as follows:

The ministry of oil would like to announce for the investment refinery in Ninawa governorate/ Qayara with a capacity of 100 thousand barrels / day.

The execution is according to the methods of BOOT or BOO and according to the investment law of the refineries No.64 for the year 2007 and its amendments.

The products of the refinery must be environment friendly according to the international standards.

The tax breaks must be according to the investment law No.13 for the year 2006.

In accordance with the second amendment of the investment law No.64 for the year 2007. The subtraction on the crude oil price over the ship is (8%) “The subtraction must be more than 5$ and less than 10$ of the global price”.

The studies, planning and follow-up directorate in the ministry of oil have prepared the data portfolio of the refinery and the price of the data portfolio shall be (30) thousand dollars, or its equivalent in Iraqi Dinars “nonrefundable”.

–  The closing date of selling data portfolios is at the end of the work hours of Tuesday the 15th of May 2018.

–  The receipt of the documents from the companies whom would like to invest in the above mentioned refinery must be to the end of the work hours of Thursday the 14th of June 2018.

The presentation of the documents will be to the Studies Planning & Follow-up Directorate directly in a closed envelop. Otherwise the documents will be rejected.

For further information please contact the E-mails (studies@oil.gov.iq) or (studies.oil@gmail.com).

(Source: Ministry of Oil)

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Oil Ministry Finalises Export Figures for March

By John Lee.

Iraq’s Ministry of Oil has announced final oil exports for March of 107,050,000 barrels, giving an average for the month of 3.453 million barrels per day (bpd), a slight increase from the 3.426 bpd exported in February.

The exports were entirely from the southern terminals, through 39 international companies, with no exports registered from Kirkuk via Ceyhan.

Revenues for the month were  $6.435 billion at an average price of $60.114 per barrel.

February export figures can be found here.

(Source: Ministry of Oil)

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Exxon, Baghdad face Setback on Seawater Project

By John Lee.

Talks between ExxonMobil and Iraq on the multi-billion-dollar Common Seawater Supply Project (CSSP) have reportedly reached an impasse.

According to Reuters, two sides differ on contract terms and costs.

Ian Thom, principal analyst at consultancy Wood Mackenzie, told the news agency:

“The CSSP would be expensive and challenging but there’s opportunity here (for Exxon) … to get access to resources on a very large scale and to achieve something and really make a difference to its own business.”

More here from Reuters.

(Source: Reuters)

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Expert Blog: Seeds of Life

By Elena Kornienko.

Once upon a time, there lived a widow woman and her son, Jack, on their small farm in the country. Every day, Jack would help his mother with the chores — chopping the wood, weeding the garden and milking the cow. 

But despite all their hard work, Jack and his mother were very poor with barely enough money to keep themselves fed. And one day he was told by his mother to go and sell their cow and use the money to buy seeds to plant a good crop. On his way to the market he met a man who offered to buy the cow for three magic beans.

The boy did this deal, however his mother got very upset that he brought home only three beans…. Long story short, the magic happened and this family started making money and had a decent living. Fairy tale, right? We have been raised by so many stories like that, but did we relate any of them to our adult lives? Just last week I felt like this boy planting the magic seeds. The seeds of knowledge. The seeds to grow the expertise of local Iraqi companies which work with international oil companies (IOCs).

It’s no secret that upon completion of any tender exercise, most of the bidders do not get any feedback from Procurement team on what made them loose that contract. And in most of the cases it is not price, but the technical proposal itself. Even having all capabilities to perform services, most of the contractors struggle to understand how to put their proposals in the best way.

And Iraq, unfortunately, is not unique in that. It is a common situation that Procurement departments are detached from their bidders and contractors. Some of IOCs run workshops on understanding their specific requirements in tenders and systems, however what is still missing in the industry is a good education system for local contractors on requirements to tenders from IOCs.

Last week, 10th April 2018, the first training in Iraq on tendering skills for oil and gas contractors took place in Basra, which was run independently from IOCs. It was specifically dedicated to local Iraqi companies and all participants got to benefit from learning what exactly is happening in Procurement teams of IOCs operating in Iraq and what makes bids win the contracts.

It was the biggest surprise to all participants that 70 percent of bids do not even make through the technical evaluation, and Procurement teams do not even get to see their prices! And while this training was a matter of planting the seeds, the watering is still to happen.

From the left to the right: Majid A. Abdullah from Basra Chamber of Industry, Sabeeh H. Al-Hashemi, Iraqi Businessmen Union Basra, Elena Kornienko, InfoCORE Consultancy, Najih Shinawa Ahmad Alqanas, Basra Chamber of Commerce

After the training, the meeting with Basra Chamber of Commerce, Basra Chamber of Industry and Iraqi Businessmen Union took place to discuss the future opportunities for local companies. Whenever it comes to education and training, it is about the future vision.

It might seem that these three beans are too small for the exchange of a milking cow, but the magic of those beans should not be underestimated. All these organizations have a great understanding of the importance of the development of local Iraqi companies, and agreed to provide support in conducting future training sessions for local companies in Basra.

What was unique and magic about that meeting is the understanding that all participants are on the same level of grasping the needs of local companies development. It was planting those magic beans and start watering them to grow the capabilities of local Iraqi contractors to make the economy of Iraq more sustainable.

Elena Kornienko has more than 15 years of professional experience in contracts, procurement and tendering in various roles from demand-identification to contract close-out. She has worked on major international oil and gas projects, including the Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 fields in Russia, and Iraq’s West Qurna-2. Now based in Dubai, she provides consultancy services to the oil and gas industry. Elena is a fluent English and Russian speaker, and a graduate of the Moscow State University of Commerce, holding a degree in Economics. She also graduated with distinction from the School of Business Administration at Portland State University and holds a CIPS diploma.

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Genel Energy receives Payment for January Sales

Genel Energy has announced that the Taq Taq partners have received a gross payment of $8.30 million from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for oil sales during January 2018. Genel’s net share of the payment is $4.57 million.

Genel also notes the announcement from DNO ASA, as operator of the Tawke PSC, that the Tawke partners have received $56.44 million from the KRG as payment for January 2018 crude oil deliveries to the export market from the Tawke licence. Genel’s net share of the payment is $14.07 million.

The Company has received an override payment of $7.86 million from the KRG, representing 4.5% of Tawke gross licence revenues for the month of January 2018, as per the terms of the Receivable Settlement Agreement.

In total, Genel’s net share of payments relating to January 2018 exports totals $26.50 million.

(Source: Genel Energy)