TAQA's Iraq country boss: Exclusive interview

One final similarity, according to Koot, is that when Shell and ExxonMobil started their business in the UK, the North Sea reservoirs had about 3.5 billion barrels of oil in place. Shell then began producing those fields for a period of 30 to 40 years.

“If we look at the mountain region we are developing in the Kurdistan region, it also contains 3.5 billion barrels of oil. So the scale is similar, meaning we are also laying the foundations for the next 30-40 years, for the next generation of oilfields,” he explains.

 

http://pipelineme.com/features/interviews/2014/01/exclusive-interview-taqas-iraq-country-boss/

Maersk takes stake in Iraqi blocks

Maersk takes stake in Iraqi blocks

http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article1348956.ece

UPDATE 1-Oil flow from Iraq's Kurdish region a boom for firms that took risk

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/09/iraq-kurdistan-oil-companies-idUSL6N0KJ2TU20140109?rpc=401

BRIEF-Gulf Keystone starts exporting oil from Kurdistan

http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/01/09/gulfkeystonepetroleum-brief-idINWLB006KE20140109
http://ir1.euroinvestor.com/asp/ir/GulfKeystone/NewsRead.aspx?storyid=12652679&ishtml=1

ExxonMobil rig up at al-Qush, drilling at Pirmam

http://www.iraqoilreport.com/oil/production-exports/exxonmobil-rig-al-qush-drilling-pirmam-11700/?utm_source=Email+Update+Subscribers&utm_campaign=59929b5f4f-Email_Update&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f9870911e6-59929b5f4f-190434577

There is good news in Kurdistan

WesternZagros Resources Ltd. (WZR), which works with Talisman at the Kurdamir block in Iraqi Kurdistan, added four cents to $1.08 on 2.65 million shares, after adding five cents on 6.07 million shares yesterday. There is good news in Kurdistan. The semi-autonomous government has started shipping oil independently of Baghdad through a new pipeline to the Turkish export hub of Ceyhan, with initial volume estimated at 300,000 barrels a day. According to Reuters, the oil is being stored for now and will not be exported without approval from Baghdad, expected later this month. Still, the completion of the pipeline is good news for Kurdish operators. The oil is coming from fields operated by London-listed Genel Energy and Norway's DNO. WesternZagros is not benefiting directly, but the idea is that as export deals progress, bigger companies will come in and acquire smaller players such as WesternZagros or ShaMaran Petroleum Corp. (SNM: $0.455). Neither company has released news since November, but both are expected to do so soon. WesternZagros has been developing the Garmian block, owned with Gazprom. It spudded the Hasira-1 well in June and the Baram-1 well in August, and expected results by the end of 2013. ShaMaran has been drilling the Atrush-4 well at its TAQA-operated Atrush block. It spudded this on Oct. 20 and said drilling would take 70 days, meaning until Dec. 29.
http://www.stockwatch.com/News/Item.aspx?bid=Z-C%3a*MKTOIL-2136719&symbol=*MKTOIL&region=C

First shipment of crude oil exported via Kurdistan Region’s new pipeline through Turkey to the Port of Ceyhan.

http://mnr.krg.org/index.php/en/press-releases/320-ministry-of-natural-resources-announcement-on-oil-export-sales