Page 5 - MEOG Week 12 2023

MEOG COMMENTARY MEOG

Map of oilfields in Basra
Governorate

points’. “Some time has been given to continue investment of around $10bn.
the conversation to reach a solution that is agree- Abdul Karim, who previously held the same
able to all parties, concerning some sticking position at the state-owned Iraqi Drilling Co.
points including the shareholding in the pro- (IDC), said: “Qatar is one of the promising and
ject,” he said. Sources were quoted by Reuters developed countries in this regard … we deter-
as saying that the Iraqi government is unable to mine our percentage as an Iraqi country, and the
alter the previous administration’s demand for a rest is for Total[Energies] and QatarEnergy.”
40% stake without being seen to be handing over He added: “I don’t expect more than 20-25%,
more of the country’s rights. [but] they are talking about 30%. The important
Jihad noted: “We emphasise that there is a will thing for us is to set our share … Iraq is talking
to go forward towards an agreement which will about 40%.”
take into consideration the benefit of both par- However, Iraq’s determination to hold
ties [… We have no problems with TotalEner- on to such a shareholding may be enough to
gies, and our relationship is good and growing.” scupper the deal, given the 18 months of wran-
gling to-date that have so far failed to bring
Looking for a breakthrough compromise.
On March 21, Pouyanne said that no resolution
has yet been reached. He said that TotalEnergies OPEC+ compliance
needs the new government to confirm the con- Meanwhile, the MoO reiterated its intention to
tract signed in September 2021 before closing stick with its OPEC+ oil production quota, not-
the deal. ing that some operators had been instructed to
“For the time being we didn’t get it. If we don’t cut output.
get it, to be honest, I cannot expose a company “We obliged some oil companies operating in
to a mix of risks,” Pouyanne said. “Iraq is not the the south to cut production to come in line with
easiest place to invest with all risk. ... We know OPEC+’s agreed rates,” in order to keep output in
the energy security situation and we know the line with the 220,000 bpd cut, Abdulghani said.
geopolitics situation,” he said. Middle East Oil & Gas (MEOG) understands
“I hope we find common ground. I worked that output has previously been constrained
on it in the last month, but again, we need to have across the Rumaila, West Qurna-1, West
this political answer,” he added. Qurna-2 and Zubair assets among others. Mean-
In February, a potential solution was dis- while, he added that the country is also prepared
cussed by the head of BOC. The firm’s direc- to ramp up production if required to do so.
tor-general Bassem Abdul Karim said that he Despite restraining output, Iraq continues to
anticipates that state-owned QatarEnergy would work to raise production capacity to 7mn bpd
acquire a minority shareholding in a broad by 2027 from the current level of just under 5mn
project, which is expected to require an initial bpd.™

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