Iraq War For Oil … Maybe Now We’ll See Some
Iraq oil status and possible increases in 2009 and 2010
The US state department reports Iraq oil production for second week of May, 2008 at 2.52 million bpd. (slide 22 of the 35 slide report)
Iraq exporting 1.88-2.04 million bpd, since Sept 2007. The May, 2008 projection is for 2.04 million bpd.
Vitol, Anadarko, and Dome oil companies have formed a consortium currently negotiating with the GOI for a technical service contract. The GOI has been working with other companies on five short-term technical service contracts, each with an approximate value of $500 million. This sixth contract would involve the Luhaisoilfield located in southern Iraq. The deal would increase production at Luhaisfrom 50,000 barrel per day (bpd) to an estimated 150,000 bpd. The GOI hopes that the completion of all deals will result in an increase in output of 600,000 bpd, translating into a more than 25% increase in the country’s daily production over a two year span.
According to Dow Jones, Iraq’s crude oil exports are significantly higher in 2008 than they were at this point in 2007; oil exports have risen 22%. An average of 1.92 million bpd have been exported from Iraq this year, with the bulk (approximately 1.5 million bpd) coming from southern Iraq
FURTHER READING
Global supply statistics [increasing to new highs] and recent T Boone Pickens oil predictions
The latest oilfield, the Bakken, largest in the lower 48 states. Part of it is in Canada
Global oil megaprojects
Prior to the Iraq war with Iran in 1980, Iraq had a production capacity of 3.6 million bpd. That was reduced to 3.2 million before the first Gulf War in 1990 and to 2.7 million barrels per day before the start of the most recent conflict.
With a stable political and civil environment, Iraq has the potential to produce four million bpd in the near term, if necessary investments are made in repairing and modernizing facilities, and up to six million. Added to it are the prospects of five undeveloped fields in southern Iraq — Bin Umar, Majnoon, Nasiriyah, West Qurna and Ratawi — that have the potential to pump three million bpd.
On April 9, U.S-based IHS Inc. unveiled full details of Iraq Atlas — the first and only detailed analysis of oil reserves, production and upstream opportunities in the Middle Eastern state. The study — which came in the wake of a year-long fact-finding mission by geologists and petroleum engineers covering 435 undrilled prospects and non-commercial discoveries and 81 producing fields and commercial discoveries — concluded Iraq has (conventional) reserves of up to 116 billion barrels — third in the world after Saudi Arabia and Iran. That equation could easily change. According to the Atlas, if discoveries in Iraq’s Western province are an indication, the pecking order may well be reversed — Baghdad with potential oil reserves of 215 billion barrels, could race ahead of Canada at 193 billion.
“We estimate that there could potentially be another 100 billion barrels in the Western Desert areas,” said Mohamed Zine, IHS regional manager for the Middle East. “It (the desert) is widely regarded as being substantially underexplored, with only one commercial discovery largely because Iraq has had a surplus of oil to date and little incentive for exploration.”
Baghdad hopes to pump an average of 2.6 million to 2.7 million bpd over 2008.
Be respectful of others and their opinions. Inflammatory remarks and inane leftist drivel will be deleted. It ain’t about free speech, remember you’re in a private domain. My website, my prerogative.
If you can't handle using your real email address, don't bother posting a comment.
Why don’t we just take it? Everyone says we went there for the oil anyway.
May 20th, 2008 at 5:16 pmOil supply “possible increases” should be “fucking sure increases”. What are we fighting for if not to kill jihadists and the reliable energy supply needed to fuel the engine to kill them?
Sweet irony! Their oil, their demise.
May 20th, 2008 at 5:23 pmYa be freaking grateful or something. Try. Pretend, something. Just give us the juice. We need it. BADLY!
May 20th, 2008 at 5:55 pmOK what is 2.52 Million X 130? That is a lot of Doe each day!!!
May 20th, 2008 at 7:07 pmwtf are we crackheads? lmao
May 20th, 2008 at 7:07 pmChina or India will buy it. We send our Alaska oil to Japan.
May 20th, 2008 at 7:13 pmThe oil industry is fucked up and I would imagine that Iraq will end up back in OPEC at some point (if they aren’t already). The problem is that as they turn up the production, all the other OPEC countries have to do is turn theirs down to keep the supply at the same rate. Which, in turn, will keep the price exactly where it is.
Get used to it, until we build nuke plants to power Lithium Ion battery operated cars we have to deal with the sand people … but … when the day finally comes that we do not need their oil … man, are they going to starve.
May 20th, 2008 at 7:27 pmWatch the Bakken. I have some friends(petroleum engineers) that work up there and they say that there is more oil there than anyone is willing to admit. So much in fact that if they announced the real extent of it the price would drop so much that it would no longer be profitable to go after it($9m to drill a horizontal well) which is why they are going to let the word out in bits and pieces until the basic development(roads, pipelines, pumping stations etc) is done. Most of it can be accessed from private land and the local Indian Tribes are building at least one new refinery on their land where the EPA and Eco-weenies can’t touch them. If I had some money to invest right now I’d be up there building housing, manpower needs are huge up there right now and there is no place for them to live.
May 20th, 2008 at 8:51 pm