[Tanada]

a

n increase of 100kbopd over 26 years doesn't impress me much, LOL

I think what you should be looking at is the increase from the last Gulf War in 2003 to recent which is about 1.3 Mbpd.
Given all the problems that occurred as a consequence of the war and the continual lack of security and related lack of growing foreign investment it is an achievement. Foreign companies are still leaving due to the lack of security ....one wonders what could have happened had all the above ground challenges been sorted out in short order after Saddam was captured.

Look at it from the other side, if Sadaam had thrown open his arms to the weapon inspectors and the UN had lifted sanctions in 2003 instead of authorizing invasion where would we be? He wasn't a nice guy, but he had his population motivated to sell oil.

[ralfy]

They would have probably come up with another false flag, if only to justify military spending.

[Kristen]

The oil in Iraq is flowing amidst the Kurds controlling the north and the largest US embassy looming in over the capital Bagdad.... What does it all mean?

[sjn]

Look at it from the other side, if Sadaam had thrown open his arms to the weapon inspectors and the UN had lifted sanctions in 2003 instead of authorizing invasion where would we be? He wasn't a nice guy, but he had his population motivated to sell oil.

UN weapons inspectors were in Iraq prior to the invasion!

Asked about the inspections he oversaw between November 2002 and 18 March 2003 - when his team was forced to pull out of Iraq on the eve of the war - he said he was "looking for smoking guns" but did not find any.

While his team discovered prohibited items such as missiles beyond the permitted range, missile engines and a stash of undeclared documents, he said these were "fragments" and not "very important" in the bigger picture.

"We carried out about six inspections per day over a long period of time.

"All in all, we carried out about 700 inspections at different 500 sites and, in no case, did we find any weapons of mass destruction."

Although Iraq failed to comply with some of its disarmament obligations, he added it "was very hard for them to declare any weapons when they did not have any".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-10770239

[dolanbaker]

Had the above ground problems not slowed down extraction, i would imagine that below ground issues would be kicking in by now.

All they are doing is catching up on lost production.

[sjn]

Had the above ground problems not slowed down extraction, i would imagine that below ground issues would be kicking in by now.

All they are doing is catching up on lost production.

This is what I was saying at the time. It seemed the meme amongst those agitating for war that Iraq was sitting on vast untapped reserves, presumably by taking OPEC reserve figures at face value. Even now, it's hard to let go of this belief when so much blood has been spilt and treasure wasted.

[Graeme]

Russia's Lukoil opens giant Iraq oil field, adding to crude glut

Russia's Lukoil has opened a giant untapped oil field in Iraq that will play a major part in driving up production to new highs in the Middle Eastern country and potentially force down the price of crude.

Spigots in the West Qurna-2 field, Iraq’s second-biggest, were opened officially over the weekend in a move that will release 120,000 barrels per day of crude oil onto international markets. The field in Southern Iraq near Basra will eventually pump out 1.2m barrels-per-day (bpd) of oil.

Iraq’s oil minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi has said that West Qurna-2 will enable the country to hit its target of pumping 4m bpd by the end of the year. Already the second-largest producer in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) after Saudi Arabia according to Reuters, Iraq pumped 3.5m bpd last month.

However, the sharp rise in Iraq’s oil production is likely to spark tensions within Opec, which controls the world oil market. Baghdad currently operates outside the cartel’s quota system, which helps to maintain oil prices above $100 per barrel, the figure seen by most of its members including Saudi Arabia as vital for their economies to function.

The resurgence of Iraq’s oil production comes amid hopes that neighbouring Iran will soon boost production if sanctions are lifted. Hussain al-Shahristani, Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister for Energy, said earlier this year that Baghdad and Tehran were cooperating on petroleum strategy in a move that has challenged Saudi’s dominance of the 12-member group.

telegraph

[vtsnowedin]

If Iraq is the fastest growing exporter that means everybody else is either stable or in decline. The fact that this war torn terrorist plagued country is the best we've got is quite troubling.

[Tanada]

Russia's Lukoil opens giant Iraq oil field, adding to crude glut

telegraph

They need to put down the Crack pipe, growing oil glut? What planet are they reporting from cause it sure isn't this planet Earth!

[Plantagenet]

Iraq plans to almost triple its oil production capacity by 2020 to 9m bpd, which if achieved could flood world markets with crude.

That would be interesting to see.

[ROCKMAN]

"Flood the market". Okie-dokie...lets look at the dynamics of the last Great Flood. Since 2002 the global market has been flooded with an additional 15+ million bopd...70 mm bopd to 85+ mm bopd. And that was accompanied with a 400% price increase from $25/bbl to $100/bbl. Gotta wonder how high oil prices will rise with next "storm surge". LOL. It just amazing that after the BLACK AND WHITE FACTS we just witnessed in the last decade that anyone would equate higher production with lower oil prices. And that's with the basic concept of supply and demand slapping us upside the head daily. LOL.

[Graeme]

Iraq Says Crude Oil Exports Rise Slightly in May

Iraq's crude oil exports increased slightly in May despite constant militant attacks that have left a vital oil pipeline idle, the Oil Ministry said Sunday.

The oil exports averaged 2.582 million barrels a day last month, an increase from the 2.510 million barrels per day in April, ministry spokesman Assem Jihad said. Jihad said the sales grossed $8.068 billion, based on an average price of $100.08 per barrel. April's revenues stood at $7.582 billion.

He added that all the oil was exported through the country's facilities on the Persian Gulf as the pipeline which goes to Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan has been idle since March because of terrorist attacks. The pipeline, which pumps 300,000 to 400,000 barrels a day and traverses restive Sunni-dominated areas of northern Iraq, has been a favorite target for militants.

Iraq holds the world's fourth largest oil reserves, some 143.1 billion barrels. Insurgent attacks, infrastructure bottlenecks and disputes with the northern self-ruled Kurdish region over rights to develop natural resources have been the main obstacles to Iraq increasing oil production and exports.

abcnews

[M_B_S]

http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/mi ... te8142.htm?

June 27, 2014

ERBIL-Hewlêr, Kurdistan region 'Iraq',— The shutdown of Iraq's biggest refinery, roads blocked by fighting, and skyrocketing demand have created the worst oil crisis in years in the country's autonomous Kurdistan region.

At petrol stations across the three provinces of the northern region, but particularly in and around the city of Duhok and the Kurdish regional capital Erbil, lines extend for hours, sometimes even days.

"I've been here for two hours, and I'm hoping I'll be able to fill up in about another half hour," said 34-year-old engineer Raad, who was queuing in Erbil.
******************************
It could be that the new Kalifat runs on camels not cars .....

M_B_S

[Plantagenet]

It could be that the new Kalifat runs on camels not cars .....

Actually it runs on US Humvees that Obama left behind for the Iraqi Army, and which the fleeing Iraq Army conveniently left behind for the Caliphate.


ISIS and some of its captured US humvees.

[M_B_S]

Useless without fuel

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpict ... 76412.html

Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government recently received close to $100m for its first oil delivery to Turkey, to be put in the international market.

In a strange paradox, however, the Kurdish region of Iraq faces a fuel shortage. Many of Iraq's oil refineries have fallen in enemy hands due to the recent crisis in the country, with Sunni fighters taking over vast swathes of territory and taking the refineries offline.

This has left the region running on fumes. Even though the Kurdish region has up to 45 billion barrels of oil under its soil, it currently doesn't have the refineries available to transform the crude material into fuel.
**********************************************************************************************
The Kalifat fighters have to get their boots on the oilfields...... = check mate for Al Maliki!

[Plantagenet]

Many of Iraq's oil refineries have fallen in enemy hands due to the recent crisis in the country,

That would be the Caliphate. They've got the refineries.

The Kalifat fighters have to get their boots on the oilfields......

They've already got oilfield.

The Caliphate knows all about that---they were smart enough to grab control of the oilfields in Syria. Controlling oil infrastructure is the strategy that has made ISIS the most powerful Islamist group.

Clearly they are targetting the oil infrastructure in Iraq---they went after Iraq's biggest refinery right away. AND the area they have already captured includes quite a bit more oil infrastructure, including oil fields, refineries and oil pipelines.


All your oilfield are belong to us!

[efarmer]

Drivin' along in my 'Bamamobile,
My AK beside me at the wheel,
Cruisin' and shootin' at all of my foes,
While wiffin' the stink of jihadi bro's

Hey Plant, I hope they don't think these
things are gonna hold up like their Toyotas
with the Halliburton service joints all closed
up.

[Rod_Cloutier]

I saw this amazing interview today about the ISIS situation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK5ZAap ... lpage#t=20

It speaks to the issue- why are we now befriending Iran after so many years?

[Plantagenet]

I was wondering if this would happen....

Obama is considering ending US demands that Assad in Syria step down, and instead may form an alliance with the Assad regime

Obama flip flops--may now ally with Assad

That would bring the US into a full alliance with the Shia in Iraq and Syria against the evil Sunni Islamists.


Hey good buddy...I didn't mean any of that "Assad must go" stuff---I was just blowing smoke, dude.

[ROCKMAN]

An interesting potential dynamic with respect to Kurd fuel needs: the only country that has landed Kurd oil shipped from Turkey is Israel. Israel has excess refinery capacity and exports about 40% of their product output. I think I hear wedding bells. LOL.