Exxon springs surprise with Kurdish deal

Mathloom · Nov 15, 2011

I just love the title of this article haha. Someone should be surprised I guess.

Full article:

http://www.thenational.ae/thenation...ergy/exxon-springs-surprise-with-kurdish-deal

It had been coming. For months, international oil companies had been sniffing around the Kurdish region in northern Iraq, weighing the option of investing in one of the last great frontiers in the world of hydrocarbons.

The major companies conducted such activity under the radar, and it was picked up only by rivals, government officials and other players such as oil and gas lawyers active in the country.

Then in September, Tony Hayward, the former BP chief executive who had to clear his desk following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, announced his industry comeback by taking a multibillion-dollar gamble on Iraqi Kurdistan. Vallares, the investment company he set up with some rich backers, bought into Genel Energy International, one of the mid caps operating in Iraq's semi-autonomous north.

Nevertheless, ExxonMobil's agreement to explore six blocks in Iraqi Kurdistan, confirmed by Kurdish officials over the weekend, came as a surprise, as the company has a lot to lose should it have miscalculated the central government's reaction.

Baghdad does not recognise the contracts signed between the Kurdistan regional government (KRG) and oil companies operating in the north. This amounts to a denial of some proportions, as the majority of the 50-odd companies active in Iraq ply their trade in the Kurdish region. In terms of investment, these quasi-sanctions have worked, however, as the bulk of money that has gone into the Iraqi energy sector was ploughed into the south of the country by the giants of the oil industry.

ExxonMobil, the world's largest company by market capitalisation, is one of them, having won the contract to develop the massive West Qurna field west of Basra together with Shell, a US$50 billion (Dh183.65bn) project. The majors active in Iraq seemed unwilling to venture north for fear of losing their concessions in the south.
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Well, at least we can be happy all that money will enter the US economy. or not.

MoonDogg · Nov 15, 2011

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Exxon springs surprise with Kurdish deal

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Exxon springs surprise with Kurdish deal

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