Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Armed groups set oil tankers on fire
Security, Oil
(Voices of Iraq) - Armed groups set a number of oil tankers ablaze on the Falluja-Samarra road, a police source said on Tuesday. “An armed group burned more than 20 oil tankers on the Falluja-Samarra road between Anbar and Salah el-Din province and kidnapped a number of drivers on Tuesday morning,” the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) on condition of anonymity.
“Most of the trucks’ drivers, from Anbar and Salah el-Din provinces, are carrying crude oil from Baiji refinery to export it to Jordan and Syria through Anbar,” he added. “A number of the kidnapped drivers managed to escape,” the source also said. The Falluja-Samarra road is 100 km north of Baghdad. It links Baghdad to Anbar and Salah el-Din.
“Most of the trucks’ drivers, from Anbar and Salah el-Din provinces, are carrying crude oil from Baiji refinery to export it to Jordan and Syria through Anbar,” he added. “A number of the kidnapped drivers managed to escape,” the source also said. The Falluja-Samarra road is 100 km north of Baghdad. It links Baghdad to Anbar and Salah el-Din.
Labels: abduction, armed groups, oil tankers
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Iraq to buy oil tankers
Reconstruction
(Azzaman) - Iraq is planning to buy small oil tankers with specifications that will enable them to navigate easily through terminals on the Gulf and the Shat al-Arab Waterway. Abdulkarim al-Saadi, director-general of Iraqi Tanker Company, said the company will soon invite foreign firms to take part in tenders to build the tankers.
Saadi did not say how many tankers Iraq intends to buy but made clear the need was urgent for small-capacity ships in order to meet the country’s growing needs for oil products. Iraq currently imports more than half of its fuel needs estimated at 700,000 barrels a day as its refineries are working much below their capacity due to violence and attacks on pipelines.
The company had one of the largest crude oil transport fleets in the Middle East with 22 tankers. But these were either sunk at terminals or got rusted as the company could use or repair them due to U.N. trade sanctions.
Saadi did not say how many tankers Iraq intends to buy but made clear the need was urgent for small-capacity ships in order to meet the country’s growing needs for oil products. Iraq currently imports more than half of its fuel needs estimated at 700,000 barrels a day as its refineries are working much below their capacity due to violence and attacks on pipelines.
The company had one of the largest crude oil transport fleets in the Middle East with 22 tankers. But these were either sunk at terminals or got rusted as the company could use or repair them due to U.N. trade sanctions.
Labels: Abdulkarim al-Saadi, Iraq, oil tankers, tender
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Iraq in joint venture with South Korea to rebuild oil tankers
Oil, Business
(IDP) - Iraq aims to rebuild its ageing fleet of tankers to carry its crude oil exports and is planning to form a joint venture shipping company with a South Korean firm, the oil ministry's spokesman said on Monday. "Iraq needs new huge oil shipping tankers to be capable of shipping exported crude oil," Asim Jihad said. "South Korea will provide a fleet of...tankers to form a joint shipping company run by the Iraqis, and South Korea will have a share of profits of transporting crude oil.
He said no agreement had been signed, but an "agreement in principle" was struck between Iraq's oil minister and his South Korean counterpart during a visit to Seoul earlier this month. Jihad said ownership of the fleet would be transferred to Iraq's oil ministry after a period that would be specified in the final agreement. He did not disclose the name of the South Korean company. Other foreign companies had approached the ministry with offers to help rebuild Iraq's tanker fleet, which was crippled by decades of war and sanctions, Jihad said. Iraq's once-proud Oil Shipping Company, which used to transport crude oil from the country's oil terminals in the Gulf city of Basra to refining facilities around the globe, has been out of operation since 1980. Tankers now loading at Basra's terminal are foreign-owned.
On his visit to Seoul, Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani signed a cooperation deal with South Korea's energy minister, Kim Young-joo, on broadening opportunities for South Koreans to secure oilfields in Iraq. Iraq, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has the world's third-largest proven oil reserves and needs billions of dollars to revive its oil sector, which is crucial for rebuilding its shattered economy.
Labels: Asim Jihad, Hussain al-Shahrastani, Kim Young-joo, oil tankers, South Korea
