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tycho102 · 04-06-07, 01:16 PM

That is a really misleading article.

There are three main oil areas in Iraq. One way over west toward Syria, one in the north, and then a whole bunch in the south near Saudi Arabia. The west field pumps light-sweet through a Turkish pipeline to the Mediterranean and it is a tiny little 10km square bearing. The total volume isn't all that much but the quality is very high. This field has been producing since 2003 because it was secured right from the start and there's not that many people who live out near it. The field is fully "developed" and only requires maintenance.

The exploration fields are mainly in the north, with some to the south. The Saudi have some say in the south because some of the bearings are connected. The southern fields are also the ones that have gotten the living hell bombed out of them and the pipelines that connect to the Arabian Gulf. These are the fields for which Halliburton, Mobil, Shell/BP, Exxon have gotten no-bid contracts. They are known oil-bearing sands so the "exploration" isn't high risk. The problem is security, and a bit of diplomacy with Saudi.

The northern fields up by Kirkuk are the ones that don't have jack squat for both derricks and pumps. They've gotten their pipelines bombed, but close to the Arabian Gulf instead of all along the route like the southern pipelines have. The security in the north is much greater than the south but the fields have not been mapped out like the southern ones. The "risk" is much greater because you may drill several times before finding a bearing and it may be cut off from a larger one. It will take years to map out the bearings and it is (expected to be) sour-heavy like everything else in the area.

Halliburton definitely got its pick of fields, in terms of expected-profit and security. These other companies are getting what is left.

04-06-07, 01:16 PM	#7
tycho102 Ace of the Deep Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 1,100 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	That is a really misleading article. There are three main oil areas in Iraq. One way over west toward Syria, one in the north, and then a whole bunch in the south near Saudi Arabia. The west field pumps light-sweet through a Turkish pipeline to the Mediterranean and it is a tiny little 10km square bearing. The total volume isn't all that much but the quality is very high. This field has been producing since 2003 because it was secured right from the start and there's not that many people who live out near it. The field is fully "developed" and only requires maintenance. The exploration fields are mainly in the north, with some to the south. The Saudi have some say in the south because some of the bearings are connected. The southern fields are also the ones that have gotten the living hell bombed out of them and the pipelines that connect to the Arabian Gulf. These are the fields for which Halliburton, Mobil, Shell/BP, Exxon have gotten no-bid contracts. They are known oil-bearing sands so the "exploration" isn't high risk. The problem is security, and a bit of diplomacy with Saudi. The northern fields up by Kirkuk are the ones that don't have jack squat for both derricks and pumps. They've gotten their pipelines bombed, but close to the Arabian Gulf instead of all along the route like the southern pipelines have. The security in the north is much greater than the south but the fields have not been mapped out like the southern ones. The "risk" is much greater because you may drill several times before finding a bearing and it may be cut off from a larger one. It will take years to map out the bearings and it is (expected to be) sour-heavy like everything else in the area. Halliburton definitely got its pick of fields, in terms of expected-profit and security. These other companies are getting what is left.