IRAQ: The Petroleum Exploration and Production Handbook - Second Edition

Table of Contents

Foreword

Foreword by Professor T.W. Wilde

Executive Summary

Introduction

• Petroleum investment opportunities in Iraq
• Geography of Iraq
• Reference

Chapter One, a regional geologic history of the basins of the Arabian Gulf

• The Arabian Plate
• Arabian-Iranian Mega-Basin
• Tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the Arabian Gulf petroleum systems
• Mega-sequence One: Proterozoic, Eocambrian (Vendian) to Cambrian structural development
• Mega-sequence Two: Cambrian to Carboniferous
• Mega-sequence Three: Permo-Triassic
• Mega-sequence Four: Jurassic to Mid Cretaceous
• Mega-sequence Five: Mid Cretaceous to the Present Day
• Oil and gas prospectivity of the Arabian-Iranian Mega-Basin
• References

Chapter Two, the petroleum exploration and production history of Iraq

• Discovery of oil at Chia Surkh in Iran in the early 20th century
• Pre-First World War efforts of the Turks, the British and the Germans in the Ottoman Empire and in Iraq
• APOC, the Deutsche Bank and the Ottoman letter of 1914
• Events of the First World War
• Treaties of Versailles, of San Remo and of S?vres
• T E Lawrence, Gertrude Bell and the creation of the modern Iraq
• Further exploration by the IPC
• Politics of the 1950s and the nationalisation of IPC in 1972
• Iraqi National Oil Company, INOC, and the involvement of the IOCs
• The years of isolation and the Iran-Iraq war
• First, 1990-91, and Second, 2003, Gulf Battles
• Todays world
• References

Chapter Three, the petroleum geology of Iraq

• Arabian-Iranian mega-sequences and petroleum systems
• Regional tectonic provinces of Iraq
• Mega-sequence One: the Proterozoic (Eocambrian, Vendian) to Cambrian
• Petroleum potential of Mega-sequence One in Iraq
• Mega-sequence Two: the Cambrian to Carboniferous
• Petroleum potential of Mega-sequence Two in Iraq
• Mega-sequence Three: the Carboniferous through Permian
• Petroleum potential of Mega-sequence Three
• Mega-sequence Four in Iraq, the Mesozoic
• Petroleum potential of Mega-sequence Four: Mesozoic rocks
• Mega-sequence Five in Iraq, the Cainozoic
• The discovery of the oil at Kirkuk and other fields and the petroleum potential of Mega-sequence Five in Iraq
• Conclusions as to future Iraq exploration and production potential
• References

Chapter Four, Iraq oil and gas reserves and production history

• Oilfields of the Foothills
• Oilfields of the Plains
• Field production statistics, Iraq
• Iraqs oil production
• Natural gas reserves and production
• Downstream facilities
• Summary and conclusions of Iraq development potential
• References

Chapter Five, petroleum and other infrastructure

• Iraq refineries
• Iraq storage and distribution
• Gas gathering and distribution
• Oil export pipelines and terminals
• Oil exports
• Iraq government and legal infrastructure in the petroleum sector
• Downstream projects in the Iraq oil and gas industry
• Upstream projects in the Iraq oil and gas industry
• References

Chapter Six, the geopolitics of Iraq and the Middle East

• The oldest civilisation in the world
• The Caliphate and the importance of Iraq in Islam
• Mesopotamia and its place in the modern Middle East
• Creation of modern Iraq and its governance
• The conflicts during and between the First and the Second World Wars
• Suez and the events of the 1950s to the present day
• The Iraqi population: the Arabs and the Kurds, the Sunni and the Shia
• The Turkmens, the Assyrians, the Chaldeans and the other national minorities of Iraq
• Future federal developments in Iraq
• Geopolitics of Iraqi oil
• References

Chapter Seven, petroleum legislation and agreements in Iraq

• Early Iraq-IPC agreements
• Renegotiation and relinquishment
• Nationalisation, Law 80, and the role of the Iraq National Oil Company
• Modern Iraqi draft petroleum agreements
• A future for Iraq oil and gas
• References

Chapter Eight, the future petroleum prospectivity of Iraq

• A look into the future
• Sovereignty over and ownership of petroleum and minerals in Sharia law
• Some mining agreements in the first years of Islam
• Famous Middle Eastern petroleum concessions
• Islamic view of petroleum depletion
• Petroleum licensing in the Islamic state
• A new market for Iraq: the European Union and the Mediterranean Basin
• Energy developments after the Second World War
• Events of the 1970s and the 1980s
• 1990s and onwards
• Importance of Turkey to Europe
• Conclusions
• References

Chapter Nine, Iraq after the January 2005 elections [new chapter, added December 2004]

• Recent developments in the Iraqi petroleum sector
• An up-date on Iraqs gas sector
• Some new data on Iraq gas production and transportation
• Future developments in Iraqi gas
• The security situation in Iraq and in its neighbours
• Future rehabilitation contracts in Iraq
• The legal status of the petroleum negotiations conducted by the Saddam regime
• Future political developments in the country
• A future Iraqi upstream petroleum licensing policy
• References

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

FIGURES

APPENDIX

• The INOC-ERAP contract of February 1968
• The INOC-Petrobras Agreement of 1972
• The INOC -Soviet Development Agreement of June 1969
• A modern Iraqi Petroleum Agreement
• References