Page 7 - DMEA Week 50 2020

DMEA COMMENTARY DMEA

provides for Baghdad to borrow around $10bn Ramyar Abdul-Rahman, director of the
to cover the fiscal deficit that has come about Sarqala sub-district, said: “The oil company was
because of the drop in oil prices as well as for the exporting roughly 25,000 bpd via 110 oil trucks
delayed salary payments. on a daily basis, but now exports have been
This was followed by the tender and subse- halted until the situation eases.”
quent award to China’s Zhenhua Oil Co. of a five- He added: “Gazprom was concerned that the
year term crude supply tender based on a $2bn oil trucks would potentially be targeted by the
pre-payment targeted to bolster state coffers. demonstrators in the cities of Kurdistan where
Given that the federal government is under- people have taken to the streets.”
stood to be running at a deficit of around $3bn The move appears prudent, with the unrest
per month, the KRG’s extended hand is just already having led to buildings being set alight.
one of several looking for money and its need is Meanwhile in a seemingly unrelated incident,
likely to be exacerbated by the protests which last bombs exploded at two wells in Kirkuk Prov-
week stopped loading from the Sarqala oilfield in ince’s Khabbaz oilfield, taking around 2,000 bpd
the Garmian licence near Sulaymaniyah. Hav- of the field’s 26,000 bpd capacity offline. Security
ing only last month announced the upcoming workers in Kirkuk said that militants from IS
expansion of production at the field from 24,000 were responsible for the attack, underlining the
bpd to 32,000 bpd, Gazprom Neft stopped load- precarious situation northern Iraq continues to
ing trucks in case of attacks. face. ™

Week 50 17•December•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P7