Web posted at: 5/5/2010 6:44:37
Source ::: Reuters
LONDON: Irish explorer Petrel Resources says it can expand in Iraq after a breakthrough agreement last month, but working there will be tough for foreign firms without a new oil law. Shares in Petrel on London’s Alternative Investment Market soared after it announced at the end of April it had settled a long-standing dispute involving two oilfields in Southern Iraq.
The settlement was “fantastic news,” said David Horgan, managing director of Petrel. “It had got to the point where I would not spend any more money when I had not been paid,” he said. “We have taken away a negative.” The breakthrough in Iraq, fiercely protective of its colossal oil wealth, paves the way for work to begin imminently on the Subba and Luhais oilfields.
Petrel was awarded a contract in 2005 to develop the fields to a minimum capacity of 200,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) and 120 million cubic feet of associated gas. “The remobilisation has effectively begun, but technically triggers when SCOP (an arm of the Iraqi oil ministry) reopens the project letter of credit. They have not confirmed that this is done, but it should be imminent,” Horgan said.
The development services contract was the first to be awarded after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. Petrel, continuously active in Iraq since 1999, also signed a working agreement with Saddam’s government in 2002 for Block 6, an exploration block in western Iraq between Iraq and Jordan. Following the agreement on the southern fields, Horgan said work on Block 6 could now begin “quite quickly.”
Petrel’s appetite was for high political risk and low geological risk, as in Iraq, Horgan said. Iraq was “the best natural resources play worldwide” and Petrel’s commitment was solid, he added. The company also plans to work in Ghana. “We expect to sign a block in Ghanaian offshore/onshore. We have yet to agree a date.” That offset the high levels of risk in Iraq, where participants in bidding rounds last year accepted punishing terms and still face uncertainty after inconclusive elections in March and in the absence of a new hydrocarbon law.
Source: http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Business_News&subsection=market+news&month=May2010&file=Business_News2010050564437.xml
Source ::: Reuters
LONDON: Irish explorer Petrel Resources says it can expand in Iraq after a breakthrough agreement last month, but working there will be tough for foreign firms without a new oil law. Shares in Petrel on London’s Alternative Investment Market soared after it announced at the end of April it had settled a long-standing dispute involving two oilfields in Southern Iraq.
The settlement was “fantastic news,” said David Horgan, managing director of Petrel. “It had got to the point where I would not spend any more money when I had not been paid,” he said. “We have taken away a negative.” The breakthrough in Iraq, fiercely protective of its colossal oil wealth, paves the way for work to begin imminently on the Subba and Luhais oilfields.
Petrel was awarded a contract in 2005 to develop the fields to a minimum capacity of 200,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) and 120 million cubic feet of associated gas. “The remobilisation has effectively begun, but technically triggers when SCOP (an arm of the Iraqi oil ministry) reopens the project letter of credit. They have not confirmed that this is done, but it should be imminent,” Horgan said.
The development services contract was the first to be awarded after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. Petrel, continuously active in Iraq since 1999, also signed a working agreement with Saddam’s government in 2002 for Block 6, an exploration block in western Iraq between Iraq and Jordan. Following the agreement on the southern fields, Horgan said work on Block 6 could now begin “quite quickly.”
Petrel’s appetite was for high political risk and low geological risk, as in Iraq, Horgan said. Iraq was “the best natural resources play worldwide” and Petrel’s commitment was solid, he added. The company also plans to work in Ghana. “We expect to sign a block in Ghanaian offshore/onshore. We have yet to agree a date.” That offset the high levels of risk in Iraq, where participants in bidding rounds last year accepted punishing terms and still face uncertainty after inconclusive elections in March and in the absence of a new hydrocarbon law.
Source: http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Business_News&subsection=market+news&month=May2010&file=Business_News2010050564437.xml
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