Iraq Energy EXPO & Conference
in the News
Iraq Kurd oil exports may remain victim to political strife despite deal
By BEN LANDO, UPI Energy Editor
Published: Dec. 5, 2008 at 4:07 PM
BAGHDAD, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- While two companies are technically prepping their northern Iraq oil fields for exports to Turkey, political disputes between the central Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government remain.
Eleven days after the Iraqi oil minister traveled to the KRG capital, Erbil, for meetings with the region\'s prime minister and oil minister, both sides have continued firing warning shots in the debate that has continued for more than a year on Kurdish oil contracts with international oil companies.
Iraq strives to lure foreign oil investments
By Mohammad Al-Ghazzi
BAGHDAD, Dec 6, 2008 (KUNA)
Iraq has appeared to take serious steps towards activating the investment in all areas, particularly in the field of energy.
It seems that one of the most prominent of these steps is the holding of exhibitions and conferences on energy, similar to that which was launched on Friday by the Iraqi Chamber of Commerce with the participation of 100 Arab and foreign companies representing 23 countries and that will continue for three days.
Iraq's Kurdish oil impasse rumbles on
By Ahmed Rasheed
BAGHDAD, Dec 5, 2008 (Reuters)
Iraq\'s oil minister on Friday again denounced oil contracts signed by Kurdish authorities with foreign firms as illegal, signalling that a bitter feud over oil in the semi autonomous northern region is far from over.
"We are in serious discussions with the (Kurdish Regional Government) about several issues, but the position on the contracts that were signed without the approval of the central government remains unchanged." Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said during an energy conference in Baghdad.
"Those contracts (have no) standing with Iraqi law."
Many oil majors skip Iraq oil expo
Many major global oil companies have stayed away from the first Iraq Energy Expo which opened in Baghdad on Friday, amid uncertainty about plans for oil production partnerships.
ConocoPhillips of the United States and Russia\'s Lukoil and Gazpromneft are among 40 exhibitors, but BP, Exxon and Total are absent although they say they want to return to Iraq after being thrown out by then dictator Saddam Hussein 36 years ago.
The three-day oil conference and show at a new exhibition centre near Baghdad International Airport is the first of its kind in Iraq since an international embargo was imposed in 1990 after Saddam launched an invasion of Kuwait.
A first: An oil expo in Baghdad
By KIM GAMEL and SINAN SALAHEDDIN
Iraq launched an unprecedented public campaign Friday to attract investment from international oil companies, rolling out a red carpet — literally — for executives from as far away as Russia and Japan.
At the expo — the first of its kind since the fall of Saddam Hussein more than five years ago — the oil minister pronounced his country now safe for business. He said it desperately needs help in rebuilding its devastated oil infrastructure, developing oil fields and refineries and looking for new sources of untapped crude.
