Iraq: The Iraqi government has approved a $998m oilfield service contract with a South Korean firm for the West Qurna Phase Two
oilfield, Reuters has reported. An Iraqi oil official, who asked not to be identified said, the deal was with Samsung Engineering, the only South Korean company on the final shortlist. [AMEInfo.com]

Iraq: Iraq's oil ministry has said the country's crude oil exports rose 3.7% in December to 66.5 million barrels, generating $7.06 billion in revenue, Bloomberg has reported. Average daily crude exports for the month reached 2.15 million barrels, said ministry spokesman, Asim
Jihad. Iraq, the third-largest OPEC oil producer, plans to boost output capacity this year to 3.4 million barrels a day and export capacity to 2.6 million barrels, oil minister Abdul Kareem al-Luaibi said on January 18.
Exports will benefit from four new offshore loading facilities in the Arabian Gulf that will go into service by 2013. Each can handle 850,000 barrels a day, he said. [AMEInfo.com]

Iraq: The Iraqi government has invited foreign companies to compete for a $450m monorail project in the southern holy city of
Kerbala, Reuters has reported. The 18-km monorail would be built from a northern entrance to the city to the main Shi'ite shrines in the central area and then towards the north-eastern city entrance. Kerbala, 80km southwest of Baghdad, hosts the shrines of two Shi'ite imams and is the site of several major religious rites. "The project has an economic advantage and will solve the (problem of moving) throngs of people during religious events," said Taif Abdul-Hussein, head of the Kerbala investment commission.
[AMEInfo.com]

Iraq: Iraq's Missan Oil Co has said crude production at the country's Halfaya field, whose shareholders include French oil giant, Total, is set to rise to 70,000 barrels a day by June, Bloomberg has reported. Total, China National Petroleum Corp and Petronas, are developing
Halfaya. CNPC has a 50% share in the project, while Total and Petronas each own 25% stakes. The field will reach a production capacity of 535,000 barrels a day in 2016, in line with the terms of the contract signed with foreign companies developing the area, the firm said. [AMEInfo.com]

Iraq: Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organisation (Somo) has signed a contract to buy around 1.5 million tonnes of gasoil and gasoline for delivery over the first half of the year, Reuters has reported, citing industry sources. The cargoes are to be delivered into the Khor Al
Zubair terminal. Overall volumes bought for gasoil are about half the usual volumes imported into Iraq every month, the source added. "It's still unclear how they are going to cover the rest of the supplies as they usually need about three to four cargoes a month," he said. [AMEInfo.com]

Iraq: Iraqi oil ministry spokesman, Asim Jihad has said the country plans to start shipping crude from the first of its three new offshore export terminals in the Gulf at the start of February, Reuters has reported. The move will boost Iraq's crude export capacity by 900,000 barrels per day. Iraqi officials had expected to open the tap at the first of three new single-point moorings (SPMs) on January 1, but testing of new export pipelines has not been completed. "The final work of checking the new export pipelines and other export facilities linked to the first floating terminal is expected to be finished by the end of this month," Jihad said.
[AMEInfo.com]