Oil Rises as Kirkuk-Iraqi Fighting Escalates
Iraq forces move into oil-rich, Kurdish-held Kirkuk. Oil markets jumped on Monday as Iraqi forces entered the oil city of Kirkuk, taking territory from Kurdish fighters and raising concerns over exports from OPEC's second-largest producer. Iraq launched the operation in the multi-ethnic region on Sunday as the crisis between Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) escalated. Tensions have been building since the KRG voted for independence in a Sept. 25 referendum. Brent crude futures were at $58.10 per barrel at 1053 GMT, up 93 cents from the previous close. U.S. WTI crude was at $52.14 per barrel, up 69 cents.
Bullish Streak Propels Brent to Robust Q3
Brent up around 20 percent in third quarter, but Middle East producers worry high price will boost U.S. shale. Oil edged higher on Friday as tensions around Iraqi Kurdistan threatened the region's crude supplies, helping Brent prices to their strongest third-quarter performance since 2004. Global benchmark Brent crude was up 1 cent at $57.42 a barrel at 1122 GMT, notching up a third quarter gain of around 20 percent. The contract had reached its highest in more than two years earlier in the week, resulting in a fifth consecutive weekly gain. This performance is Brent's longest weekly bull run since June 2016. U.S.
S.Korea's KNOC Drops Oil Field Project in Iraq's Sangaw South
State-owned Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) has decided to drop out of Iraq's Sangaw South oil field project because of uneconomic exploration results, a KNOC spokesman said on Monday. A Korean consortium headed by KNOC holds 60 percent of Sangaw South in the Kurdish region of Iraq, with half of that owned by KNOC. The state-run oil company has invested a total of about $204 million on exploration and acquisition of the stake since 2008. "The pullout was decided in a recent board meeting as we figured economics of exploration and production were low to carry out the project," KNOC spokesman Cho Jung-geun said.
Iraq's Southern Oil Exports Rise in April to 3.364 mln bpd
Iraq exported oil from southern fields at an average rate of 3.364 million barrels per day in April, higher than the March average of 3.286 million, Oil Ministry spokesman Asim Jihad said on Sunday. That is close to the record of 3.37 million bpd exported in November as OPEC's second-largest producer resumes the supply growth that has added to downward pressure on global prices. Iraq looked set to exceed that rate, with exports in the first 24 days of April averaging 3.43 million bpd, according to an industry source and loading data. It was not immediately clear why exports appeared to drop off last week.
Sabotaged Iraq-Turkey Pipeline Ops Resuming Tuesday
Iraq's oil pipeline to Turkey is expected to resume pumping on Tuesday, Turkish energy officials have told Reuters, after sabotage by Kurdish militants halted crude flow last week. The attack last week by fighters from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on the pipeline carrying Kurdish and Kirkuk oil to Mediterranean port of Ceyhan is part of a wider surge in violence by the PKK, targeting Turkish security forces and infrastructure after Ankara launched air-strikes against the group in northern Iraq.
Norway's DNO Expects Kurdish Oil Export Payment Soon
Norwegian oil firm DNO expects export payments from the Kurdish Regional Government to come soon as a deal with Iraq's government could strengthen KRG's ability to pay oil firms in the region what they are owed, it said on Thursday. "We expect a large reconciliation from the KRG soon, if it will be paid in one or several parts we will have to wait and see," Chief Financial Officer Haakon Sandborg told Reuters at the sidelines of an energy conference. Iraq's government will make a budget payment to Kurdish authorities "within days"…
Brent Falls Below $69 as Price Rout Rolls On
Brent crude slipped below $69 a barrel on Friday, on track to finish the week below $70 a barrel for the first time since 2010, as cuts to official selling prices from Saudi Arabia added to recent pressure. Prices remain near five-year lows as the market grapples with oversupply due to the U.S. shale boom and the recent decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries not to cut production. Prices pared early losses after stronger-than-expected U.S. employment data, while a slightly lower physical supply from the programme that underpins the Brent crude benchmark in January also provided support.
Total Can Withstand $80 Oil
Big oil companies such as Total can withstand oil prices at $80 a barrel and the French firm will continue its current investment projects, Total's president for exploration and production said on Monday. "$100 was a good level to ensure continuous supply of projects for the future," Arnaud Breuillac told a news conference at a major energy industry conference in Abu Dhabi. But he added, "Large companies like Total have financial capability to weather a bit of time when the oil price is lower," and said Total did not want to cut back its investment budget. "We will continue with our capital discipline.
DNO Eyes First Kurdistan Crude Shipment
Norwegian firm DNO expects its first shipment of oil from Kurdistan to be sold on the international market by the end of the year and said it was committed to its operations in the region despite the recent flare-up in violence. The firm could until recently only sell oil on the local Iraqi market, at lower prices than it would have got on the international oil market, due to a long constitutional fight between the region and Baghdad over independent oil sales. That changed earlier this month when the Kurdish Regional Government allowed oil firms to seek out international buyers.
Capacity to Double on Kurdistan's Pipeline
The capacity of Iraqi Kurdistan's independent oil pipeline will almost double to at least 200,000 barrels per day once upgrade work is finished, enabling the semi-autonomous region to boost exports significantly, industry sources and officials said. Oil revenues are a lifeline for the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq, whose peshmerga forces are being supported by U.S. air strikes in their battle against the radical Sunni militants of the Islamic State. "Work to increase the capacity will probably be completed by the end of this month.
Turkey: Iraqi Kurdistan Exports Continue
Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said on Monday 6.5 million barrels of Iraqi Kurdish crude oil had been shipped to world markets via Turkey's Ceyhan port since exports began and that a seventh tanker was being loaded at the terminal. Yildiz said crude flow on the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline had been halted as of Monday due to maintenance work. Flows through the 120,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) pipeline began at the end of 2013 but the first cargo was not loaded until May. The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq, whose peshmerga forces are being supported by U.S.
Oil Production gets Disrupted in Iraqi Kurdistan
Oil companies in Iraqi Kurdistan began withdrawing more staff on Friday in the siege of militants from the Islamic State to the capital of the region, with Afren became the first to announce that he was reducing their production. Shares in London-listed oil and operating in northern Iraq fell for a second day because the closure and evacuation of personnel at other sites became more likely in a region hitherto considered relatively safe compared to rest of the country. The United Islamic group considered…
US Strikes Islamic State Artillery to Protect Kurds
U.S. warplanes struck Iraq on Friday for the first time since American troops pulled out in 2011, attacking Islamist fighters advancing towards the Kurdish region after President Barack Obama said Washington must act to prevent "genocide". The fighters had advanced to within a half hour's drive of Arbil, capital of Iraq's Kurdish region and a hub for U.S. oil companies. A Pentagon spokesman said two F/A-18 aircraft dropped laser-guided bombs on a mobile artillery piece used by Islamic State fighters to shell Kurdish forces defending Arbil.
Militant Advance Disrupts Kurdistan Production
Oil companies in Iraqi Kurdistan began to withdraw more staff on Friday as Islamic State militants closed in on the regional capital, with Afren becoming the first to announce it was cutting production. Shares of London-listed oil firms active in northern Iraq fell for a second day as other field closures and staff evacuations became more likely in a region seen until now as relatively secure compared to the rest of the country. The Islamic State considers non-Muslims and adherents to Shi'ite Islam as apostates, and in many towns it has captured it has made a stark offer: convert, flee, or die.
Iraq's Kurds Have Right to Sell Oil While Squeezed by Baghdad
Iraq's Kurdish region has the right to keep selling oil as long as the Baghdad government keeps cutting its budget, the head of the Kurdish parliament's energy committee said on Tuesday, as an oil cargo off Texas was set to be seized at Baghdad's request. "The KRG (Kurdish Regional Government) has the right to sell oil if Baghdad continues to cut KRG's budget, disrupt the livelihood of its people and impose an embargo," Sherko Jawdat told Reuters. U.S. authorities were set on Tuesday to seize a cargo…
Tanker with Iraqi Kurdish Oil Anchors off Texas Port
A tanker carrying crude oil from Iraqi Kurdistan was anchored near the Port of Galveston, Texas, and must undergo a routine safety inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard on Sunday before it can unload its cargo, an official said. The Marshall Islands-flagged tanker United Kalavrvta sailed from the Turkish port of Ceyhan in June bound for the U.S. Gulf Coast despite Washington's concerns over independent oil sales from the autonomous region and threats from the Iraqi central government. Crude offloading could begin as early as Sunday…
Iraqi Kurdish Oil Nears US Port Despite Concern in Washington
A tanker carrying crude oil from Iraqi Kurdistan is just one day away from arriving at a U.S. port, according to ship tracking satellites, despite Washington's long-standing concern over independent oil sales from the autonomous region. The United Kalavrvta tanker, which left the Turkish port of Ceyhan in June carrying oil delivered via a new Kurdish pipeline, is due to dock in Galveston, Texas on Saturday, Reuters AIS Live ship tracking shows. A sale of Kurdish crude oil to a U.S. refinery would infuriate Baghdad…
Kurds Seize Iraq Oilfields, Ministers Pull out of Govt.
Kurdish forces seized two oilfields in northern Iraq and took over operations from a state-run oil company on Friday, while Kurdish politicians formally suspended their participation in Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government. The moves escalated a feud between the Shi'ite-led central government and the autonomous Kurdish region driven by a Sunni insurgency which threatens to fragment Iraq along sectarian and ethnic lines three years after the withdrawal of U.S. troops. The Kurdish forces took over production facilities at the Bai Hassan and Kirkuk oilfields near the city of Kirkuk, the oil ministry in Baghdad said.
Brent Oil Price Rises Towards $114
The price of Brent crude oil rose towards $114 a barrel on Wednesday as Sunni militants pushed forward in northern Iraq, striking the country's biggest refinery and stoking worries about oil exports as some firms pulled foreign oil workers out of the country. Further increasing tensions, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said his country would not hesitate to defend Shi'ite holy sites in Iraq. Brent rose 20 cents to $113.65 a barrel by 1241 GMT. U.S. crude gained 34 cents to $106.70 a barrel after a draw in domestic stocks.
Second Tanker of Kurdish Oil Leaves Turkey Despite Baghdad Protest
A second shipment of Iraqi Kurdish crude has sailed from the Turkish port of Ceyhan, industry and government sources said, increasing the stakes in a battle with Baghdad over control of oil sales from the autonomous region. The United Emblem suezmax tanker, carrying 1 million barrels of crude, sailed from the harbour on Turkey's Mediterranean coast on Monday, Reuters AIS Live ship tracking showed. The shipment is the second to leave Ceyhan in three weeks after arriving by pipeline. At least 2 million barrels of Kurdish crude are now at sea…
