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Iraq may have 350 bln barrels of oil:
Deputy PM Barham Salih
28.4.2008
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April
28, 2008
BAGHDAD, -- Iraq may have oil reserves of 350
billion barrels, Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih
said on Monday, a massive figure that is triple the
country's proven reserves and which even exceeds the
oil in Saudi Arabia.
Salih said he had seen estimates from "reputable
sources, reputable companies" that put Iraq's
reserves at up to 350 billion barrels. He declined
to name the sources.
Iraq's current proven reserves are 115 billion
barrels, already the world's third largest. The
country produces around 2.3 million barrels of oil
per day (bpd).
"The real tragedy of this country is that Iraq is
home to possibly the world's largest oil reserves.
Some estimates put it at 350 billion barrels,"
Salih,www.ekurd.net
a key player in attempts
to finalise a draft national oil law, told Reuters
in an interview. |
Dr. Barham Saleh Iraq's deputy premier |
"Extraction costs are very minimal compared to
anywhere else in the world and we are still at 2
million barrels a day of exports. It's ridiculous."
Saudi Arabia has about 264 billion barrels of oil,
according to statistics compiled by BP (nyse: BP -
news - people ). Iran is next with around 137
billion barrels then Iraq with 115 billion.
Iraq, whose primary source of revenue comes from
oil, needs huge amounts of investment to boost oil
output but also to rebuild the country after years
of sanctions and war.
Delays in approving the oil law to govern the
industry have held back investment -- the current
draft being negotiated for example was first agreed
by the cabinet in February 2007.
Salih said it was hard to say when the draft might
get to parliament, but added there was fresh
momentum following recent talks, including
discussions with the government in the largely
autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq.
"What I have witnessed over the past three weeks is
renewed commitment from the senior leadership to
bring this issue to closure, but I do not
underestimate the challenges," he said.
Salih said talks with officials from the Kurdistan
Regional Government (KRG) including Nechirvan
Barzani,www.ekurd.net
its prime minister, had
been positive.
Some Iraqi officials say contracts signed by the KRG
with foreign firms are to blame for holding up the
draft oil law. Iraq's oil ministry says the deals
are illegal.
But Salih said issues of contracting could be
resolved.
He said the KRG had committed to a "transparent"
contract process and given its commitment that all
revenue from contracts signed in Kurdistan would be
retained by the central treasury.
"SUPER MONOPOLY"
Asked if the KRG was talking only about future
contracts, Salih said it included existing deals
with foreign companies.
Salih said he believed the biggest obstacle to the
draft oil law was deciding the role of the state in
the management of the oil sector including who had
ultimate control of reserves.
He said there were some efforts to make a
restructured Iraqi National Oil Company the "super
monopoly" of the industry.
"The real dilemma is whether we want to go back to a
situation where a state monopoly will manage the oil
sector, or rather mismanage it, as it has over the
decades," he said.
"We do not want to cut down on bureaucracy (the oil
ministry) to create a super bureaucracy elsewhere.
This is a fundamental problem we have. It's nothing
to do with the KRG."
Iraq is negotiating deals with those companies for
two-year oil service contracts at some of the
biggest fields that aim to boost the country's oil
output by 500,000 bpd.
Salih expressed frustration Iraq was producing so
little oil compared to its reserves.
"We are still talking about technical service
agreements with majors at a time when oil prices are
at record levels and the world needs (our oil). To
me that is obscene," he said.
"We need to recognise that even existing plans of
say 5-6 years from now to reach 6 million barrels a
day are totally outdated. These plans were from 1989
at a time when estimates of Iraqi reserves were like
110 or 120 billion barrels."
Copyright, respective author or news agency. Reuters
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