Iraq's Oil to rival Russia & Saudi

Iraq has announced plans to quickly boost its oil production - allowing it to beat the world's current leading oil producers.

A senior Iraqi official said his country decided to ramp up oil production within 18 months by 30%.

The troubled nation, which still struggles for stability more than a decade after a controversial US-led invasion, hopes to pump 4.5 million barrels per day (mbd) by the end of next year, up from around 3.5 mbd now.

It then plans on increasing output by 157% of current rates by 2020, reaching 9 mbd.

Chairman of the prime minister's advisory commission, Thamir Ghadhban, confirmed the seven-year plan.

An output rate of 9 mbd would let Iraq go head-to-head with the three top producers, Saudia Arabia, Russia and the United States.

Iraq sits atop the world's fourth largest proven reserves of conventional crude, with about 143.1 billion barrels yet to be unlocked.

Oil revenues make up 95% of the country's budget receipts.

FG feigns ignorance of Chevron’s plans to sell oil bloc stakes

The Federal Government, the majority partner in the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 35 and 38, has denied knowledge of plans by Chevron Corporation to sell stakes in two Nigerian oil blocks.

This declaration, may have however, swiftly heightened fears among prospective investors in the blocks.

Chevron is, according to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), expected to officially inform the government, which, through the NNPC owns about 55 per cent stake in the blocks purportedly up for sale before announcing such.

The oil major is the latest International Oil Company (IOC), operating In Nigeria’s multi-billion dollars oil and gas industry, seeking to dispose of assets in Africa’s biggest oil producer. Joint blocks’ owners like Royal Dutch Shell, Italy’s Eni and France’s Total have sold several blocks.

The two newest blocks for sale also hold an unknown amount of natural gas but there has been no production yet, Reuters reported quoting two industry sources.

Shell lifts force majeure on gas for Nigeria LNG

Shell has lifted a force majeure on gas supplies to the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant. The company declared force majeure on May 16 after a leak along the Eastern Gas Gathering System near Awoba in Rivers State. It affected 1.5 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day. That declaration came just less than a month after it had lifted a force majeure on supplies to the plant, during a time in which Shell was reporting growing attacks on pipelines by oil thieves.

Chevron to Sell 40% Stake in Two Oil Blocks

Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) will be selling its 40 per cent stake in two Nigerian shallow water oil blocks in Oil Mining Leases (OMLs) 83 and 85. Chevron has 40 per cent interest in the two blocks.

The two blocks OML 83 and OML 85 hold an estimated 200 million barrels of oil and an unknown amount of natural gas but there has been no production yet. Chevron did not give details of reserves. The planned sale follows several oil majors’ sale of assets onshore or in the shallow waters of the Niger Delta over the past few years.

Oil industry analysts believe that the slow pace of deliberation in the passage of the PIB amongst all these other factors, have added to a growing uncertainty in the country’s oil and gas industry.

Joint owners, Royal Dutch Shell, Italy's Eni and France's Total, have sold several oil blocks in the oil-bearing region, while eventual buyers of these included UK-listed firms Heritage Oil and Eland Oil.

Chinese-owned Addax has also said it was interested in buying more Nigerian oil assets in addition to what it has already.

Chevron's blocks are at the exploratory stage, unlike Shell's already producing fields, which will make valuations less straightforward, one banking source said.

Chevron owns a 40 per cent stake in 13 shallow water blocks with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and also has several deep offshore assets.  Its 2012 net daily production in Nigeria averaged 238,000 barrels of crude oil and 165 million cubic feet of natural gas.

It is the third-largest oil producer in Nigeria and one of its largest investors, spending more than $3 billion annually. It operates under a joint-venture arrangement with NNPC and has assets on land, swamp and near-offshore concessions covering approximately 2.2 million acres (8,900 sq. km) in the Niger Delta region.

Iraq police avert bomb attack on north oilfield

Iraqi police defused bombs planted at two oil wells near the northern city of Kirkuk, according to security and oil sources, who said exports to the Ceyhan port in Turkey were not affected.

The bombs were discovered near two wells producing crude from the Bai Hassan oilfield, which is currently pumping around 150,000 barrels per day (bpd), officials at state-run North Oil Company (NOC) said.

No group has claimed responsibility, but several armed factions are active in Kirkuk, and Sunni Islamist insurgents linked to al Qaeda often attack security forces and energy installations in an attempt to undermine the Arab Shi'ite-led government.

Militants have recently stepped up attacks against oil export pipelines in the north, a sign of the challenges Iraq faces to protect its energy infrastructure as it rebuilds an industry battered by years of war and sanctions.

Crude oil flows from the OPEC member to Turkey on the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline were interrupted in May due to repeated attacks and Iraq recently foiled an al Qaeda plot to bomb a key Baghdad oil facility.

Violence has spiked since the start of the year as al Qaeda's local wing, the Islamic State of Iraq, and other Sunni Islamist insurgents stepped up attacks to try to stoke a wide scale sectarian conflict.

The bulk of Iraq's oil is exported from the southern terminals of Basra, but just below 400,000 bpd - a quarter of all exports - is pumped through the Kirkuk pipeline to Ceyhan port in Turkey.