Posted on

Gazprom Neft commissions New Gas Plant at Badra

Russia’s Gazprom Neft has launched the commercial operation of a 1.6 billion cubic metres capacity gas processing plant at its Badra field, Iraq.

Alexander Novak, Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation, was present at the opening ceremony for the new facility, together with the Minister of Oil of the Republic of Iraq, Jabbar al-Luaibi, and Gazprom Neft CEO Alexander Dyukov.

Dry feed gas, processed at the Badra field, is transported via a 100-kilometre pipeline to the Az-Zubaidiya power station, supplying electric power not just to provinces throughout Iraq, but also to the capital city of Bagdad.

In addition to this, gas will be used to meet the Badra project’s own needs as fuel for the gas-turbine power plant. Five gas turbines are able to produce a total 123.5 MW of electric power, supplying oil and gas processing facilities, drilling rigs and oil-producing wells. A 10-MW overhead power line will soon begin feeding into the Gazprom Neft Badra accommodation complex, as well as into the town of Badra and neighbouring population centres.

Natural gas liquids (NGLs) produced at the Badra project’s gas processing plant will be used to produce LPG to be supplied to the Iraqi state-owned Gas Filling Company. The plant also includes facilities for sulphur production and granulation.

Alexander Dyukov, Gazprom Neft CEO, made the following comment at the official opening ceremony of the gas plant:

“Gazprom Neft is continuing its development of the Badra field, in strict adherence to the field development plan. Today sees the full-cycle gas plant — built by our company using the most cutting-edge technologies available on the world market — going into commercial production.

“This is a unique enterprise for the region, at which Gazprom Neft has, since starting work, been able to monetize all of the hydrocarbons produced here, ensuring associated-petroleum-gas (APG) utilisation of at least 95 percent.”

(Source: Gazprom Neft)

Posted on

SOMO Awards Diesel Tenders

By John Lee.

Sources have told Reuters that China’s state-run Zhenhua Oil will supply diesel (500 parts per million (ppm) sulphur) to Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) through a term contract for the first time.

It will supply 600,000 tonnes of the 2.37 million tonnes sought by SOMO in a tender for delivery in the 2018 calendar year.

The company is part of defence conglomerate China North Industries Group Corp (NORINCO).

BB Energy, Litasco (the international marketing and trading arm of Russia’s Lukoil) and Lima Energy (a joint venture between Litasco and SOMO) will also supply about 25 percent each.

(Source: Reuters)

Posted on

Rosneft in the Kurdish Region: Moscow’s Balancing Act

By Ahmed Tabaqchali. Originally published by Iraq in Context; re-published by Iraq Business News with permission. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

Between February 2017 and mid-October, Rosneft signed a number of deals with the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) that established for it, and by extension for Russia, a major position as both an investor and stakeholder in the Kurdish Region of Iraq (KRI)’s hydrocarbon resources and infrastructure.

The move was interpreted, especially by the KRG, as implicit support for the KRG in its bid for independence, especially in light of the latest deal signed following the reassertion of Iraq’s federal control over Kirkuk and other disputed territories. While there is an element of truth to this thinking, the deals are part of a wider geopolitical positioning for Russia as a major gas supplier to Europe and as an emerging power in the Middle East.

The deals provide Rosneft, and by extension Russia, effective control of the KRG’s Oil & Gas infrastructure, and a controlling stake in the region’s finances in more ways than one.

Within the oil space it has established this in three ways. The first was by providing USD 1.5bn in financing via forward oil sales payable over 3-5 years. This would be payable in kind from the KRG’s exports, until recently at about 550,000-600,000 barrels per day (bbl/d). However, the loss of the Kirkuk fields takes away about 430,000 bbl/d of production or eventually about half of the KRG’s exports.

This leaves the KRG with a tiny revenue stream after payments to International Oil Companies (IOC)’s, from which to make payments on forward oil sales of up USD 3.5 bn including Rosneft’s USD 1.5bn. A complicating factor is the repayment of other KRG debt, estimated at over USD 21bn by end of 2017, which will have to be factored into debt payment sustainability.

Posted on

Gazprom Neft not to Cut Production at Badra

By John Lee.

Russia’s Gazprom Neft has said it expects production at the Badra oilfield to stay between 85,000 and 90,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2018.

Deputy chief executive Vadim Yakovlev (pictured) told Reuters that Baghdad has not asked the company to curtail production, despite reports that the Oil Ministry had asked foreign producers to cut investment to reduce the cash-strapped government’s contribution in shared ventures.

Yakovlev added that production at Badra is expected to plateau as high as 110,000 bpd in the future.

(Source: Reuters)

Posted on

Baghdad hits back at Rosneft/KRG Deal

By John Lee.

Iraq’s Ministry of Oil has hit back at Rosneft‘s recent decision to enter a production-sharing deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) without its approval.

In a statement, the Ministry warned:

“The ministry of oil warns seriously all the countries and oil companies from contracting or dealing with any authority inside Iraq without taking the approval from the federal government and the ministry of oil”.

Oil Minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi [Allibi, Luiebi] (pictured) added:

“… irresponsible statements from some of the officials inside & outside Iraq or the foreign companies about their intention to sign oil contracts with any authority inside the geographic borders of Iraq without telling the federal government or the ministry of oil, is considered as a Blatant interference in the internal affairs and a derogation from national sovereignty, and an outright violation of international norms.”

Rosneft boss Igor Sechin insisted that the company strictly followed the law. AFP quotes him as saying:

“If there are problems between the government of Iraq and Kurdistan they need to solve the problems themselves … I am not a politician, my job is to produce oil.”

In addition to the production-sharing deal, Rosneft has just agreed to start work on a new oil pipeline project in Iraqi Kurdistan.

(Sources: Iraqi Ministry of Oil, AFP)

Posted on

Rosneft to Build New Kurdistan Oil Pipeline

Russia’s Rosneft and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have announced the start of joint implementation of an infrastructure project for the operation of the oil pipeline in the Kurdish Autonomous Region.

According to a statement from Rosneft, its share in the project “may amount to 60%“.

“The other project participant with 40% share will be KAR Group, who is the current pipeline operator,” it added.

Rosneft Chief Executive Officer Igor Sechin (pictured) said:

“The entry into the infrastructure project will contribute to achievement of Rosneft’s strategic objectives and will enable Rosneft to enhance the efficiency of oil transportation to the end customers including supplies to the Company’s refineries in Germany”.

(Source: Rosneft)

Posted on

Rosneft, KRG Agree on Oil Cooperation

Russian state-controlled oil company Rosneft and the Government of the Kurdish Autonomous Region of Iraq signed the documents required to put into force Production Sharing Agreements (PSA) with respect to five production blocks located in the Kurdish Autonomous Region.

The share of Rosneft Group Subsidiaries in PSA will be 80%, the amount of payments for the projects farm-in and geological information for each of  five blocks ranges from 40 mln. USD  to 110 mln. USD and may total to 400 mln.USD (incl. 200 mln.USD that can be compensated by oil produced from block), the heads of terms of the agreements and the basic principles of product distribution are similar to the PSA in Iraqi Kurdistan that were signed by other international oil and gas companies.

The parties agreed to implement the geological exploration program and to start pilot production as early as in 2018. In case of success, in 2021 it is planned to start full-field development of the blocks. According to conservative estimates, the total recoverable oil reserves at five blocks may be about 670 million barrels.

The documents were signed in pursuance of the Investment Agreement which was concluded at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in 2017.

(Source: Rosneft)

Posted on

Petrofac in Kurdistan Deal with Gazprom Neft

Petrofac has secured a three-year master services agreement (MSA) to support Gazprom Neft Middle East B.V. with the provision of engineering services on a call-off basis for the Garmian field in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

The MSA was secured following a competitive tendering process and augments Petrofac’s extensive footprint in Iraq, where it has been providing engineering, operations, maintenance and training services since 2010.

Gazprom Neft has been Operator of the Garmian field since early 2016. Through the provision of engineering services Petrofac aims to support the planned brownfield works to debottleneck and expand the Central Processing Facility (CPF).

Steve Webber, Senior Vice President, Petrofac Engineering & Production Services, East said:

“We are delighted Gazprom Neft has selected Petrofac as one of its key suppliers in support of the Garmian field CPF upgrade project.

“We have been working with this key client in Iraq for more than three years and hope to take this opportunity to build on our relationship through the demonstration of Petrofac’s fit-for-purpose and value-driven engineering solutions in the Kurdistan region.”

(Source: Petrofac)

Posted on

Putin boxed in by Iran, Turkey on Iraqi Kurdish referendum

From Al Monitor. Any opinions here are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin had been banking on Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani.

Over the past year, Russia has invested over $4 billion in the Kurdistan Region’s energy sector, overtaking the United States as the largest investor. By making such a commitment to northern Iraq, Putin was likely counting on both an eventual energy windfall and another card to play as a regional broker at the expense of the United States.

He could count on good, or at least working, relationships with Damascus, Tehran, Ankara, to some extent Baghdad and, with the massive oil and gas venture, Erbil.

What the Russian president had not banked on was that Barzani would go ahead with the independence referendum on Sept. 25 against widespread international and regional opposition. The Kremlin, of course, could not support ethnic separatism, and was probably hoping for a last-minute deal with Baghdad to stave off the vote.

As the prospects of a postponement collapsed, Barzani likely saw Russia’s investment as a hedge against the nearly unified international opposition to its referendum on independence.

Putin, of course, kept up appearances of being in control, but there was no denying the unusual nature of his visit to Ankara on Sept. 28 for consultations with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, just three days after the referendum vote.

Erdogan’s position was predictable and blustery, including when he said, “No one has a right to throw our region into the fire,” as Yekaterina Chulkovskaya reports. But Putin sought to dial it down, and instead referred to the Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement, which included the phrase “Moscow respects the national aspirations of the Kurds” and the hope for a “constructive and respectful dialogue, with a view to devising a mutually acceptable formula of coexistence within a single Iraqi state,” as reported by Jasper Mortimer.