Maintenance operations at Iraq's largest fields are bringing production down as the Oil Ministry continues to cut amidst OPEC-plus pressure.
A $417M subsea pipeline project that was funded and then suspended over the past two months has gotten Cabinet approval again, with a half million barrel per day capacity increase slated for next year.
The delay is the latest for the project that was supposed to be completed in 2018, and is sorely needed to expand fuel supply, reduce purchase costs, and provide an additional outlet for Iraqi crude output.
Final paperwork expected to be signed Monday between Iraq and TotalEnergies, after which the company will begin to take over the Ratawi oil field operations.
KRG crude exports are still shut in due to the northern pipeline outage, but federal exports have increased further, nearing the maximum capacity of outdated Basra Gulf infrastructure.
The Malaysian company wants to sell its stake to Pertamina due to late payments and low profit margins.
Political scrutiny of a contract is delaying a subsea pipeline project with the potential to lift export capacity by 500,000 bpd in a year.
Ankara sent a technical delegation to Baghdad but the two sides seem far from the top-level political agreement needed to restart oil flows.
Northern pipeline outage gives Baghdad leeway for southern output increases despite tightened OPEC-plus quotas.
Another new contracting round builds on recent momentum to attract investors and raise domestic gas supplies.
Iraq's oil marketing chief discusses Russia-related oil market dynamics, the restart of Qayarah crude exports, and recent steps to activate the TotalEnergies mega-deal.
