{"id":1859,"date":"2018-10-23T17:16:12","date_gmt":"2018-10-23T17:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/euromenaenergy.com\/?p=1859"},"modified":"2018-10-23T17:16:12","modified_gmt":"2018-10-23T17:16:12","slug":"worlds-fourth-biggest-oil-producer-cant-keep-the-lights-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/?p=1859","title":{"rendered":"World\u2019s fourth-biggest oil producer can\u2019t keep the lights on"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"subtitel col-lg-12\">\n<p>Bloomberg\/Dubai<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Iraq is fast becoming a global oil powerhouse, gaining stature in Opec after it surpassed Canada this year as the world\u2019s fourth-biggest producer.<br \/>\nBut the war-ravaged country has little to show for its feat.<br \/>\nWhile crude markets are preoccupied with Saudi Arabia\u2019s ability to boost output as impending US sanctions curb Iranian exports, Iraq has quietly increased shipments to Asia, Europe and the Mediterranean region to offset Iran\u2019s missing barrels.<br \/>\nIraq is producing a record 4.78mn barrels of oil a day, the country\u2019s Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi said on Saturday. Output will rise to 5mn barrels a day in 2019 and 7.5mn in 2024, he said.<br \/>\nConsultant Wood Mackenzie forecasts Iraq could pump 6mn barrels a day by 2025 and that its output is set to grow faster than for all countries but the US over the next six years.<br \/>\nFor all its petro-wealth, Iraq lacks steady electricity supplies and has trouble keeping the lights on &#8211; and attracting the kinds of investment needed to create jobs and spur local businesses.<br \/>\n\u201cAn increase in production is good news, but Iraq still fails to provide basic services like clean water and power to its citizens, including in Basra where most of the oil is extracted,\u201d said Ziad Daoud, Bloomberg\u2019s chief economist in the Middle East.<br \/>\nMost indicators in Iraq beyond oil show little promise. Political tensions continue to simmer due to Baghdad\u2019s stalemate with the country\u2019s semi-autonomous Kurds.<br \/>\nOil prices have doubled since 2016, bolstering Iraq\u2019s finances, yet the country\u2019s stock index is down 30% over the same period. More than $32bn of foreign direct investment has flowed out of the country over the past five years, according to UN data.<br \/>\nFifteen years after the US led a military coalition to oust Saddam Hussein\u2019s regime, \u201cpeople are frustrated that they don\u2019t have 24-hour electricity, that the infrastructure and healthcare are poor,\u201d said Ali al-Mawlawi, head of research at Baghdad-based think tank Al-Bayan Center. \u201cWealth isn\u2019t trickling down in a fair and equitable way.\u201d<br \/>\nSecurity improvements and efforts to form a new government are cause for some optimism, al-Mawlawi said in a phone interview. Yet persistent corruption and a cumbersome bureaucracy make \u201cforeign companies apprehensive about investing,\u201d he said.<br \/>\nNone of this seems to matter for the oil industry in Iraq, the second-biggest member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries after Saudi Arabia.<br \/>\nOil majors like Exxon Mobil Corp, Total SA, Lukoil PJSC and Gazprom PJSC sat out the latest auction for Iraq\u2019s oil and gas blocks in April, but smaller companies from the United Arab Emirates and China succeeded in securing contracts.<br \/>\nInternational oil companies are responsible for two-thirds of Iraq\u2019s current production, and their capital and technology are crucial to maintaining and raising output, said Ian Thom, Wood Mackenzie\u2019s principal analyst for Middle East upstream.<br \/>\nAs long as the government keeps paying foreign oil companies in full and on time, producers can extract reasonable returns from Iraq\u2019s low-cost fields, even if crude drops to $30 a barrel, Thom said. Brent crude, the global benchmark, has traded at an average of more than $73 this year.<br \/>\n\u201cIraq will not struggle to find foreign investors to grow its oil sector,\u201d Daoud said. \u201cThe challenge is to attract capital and expertise to benefit the broader economy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bloomberg\/Dubai Iraq is fast becoming a global oil powerhouse, gaining stature in Opec after it surpassed Canada this year as the world\u2019s fourth-biggest producer. But the war-ravaged country has little to show&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1865,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[46,57,90,96,107,137,139,160,174,184,201,202,209,232,233,244,246,249,256,267,277,279,288],"class_list":["post-1859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-aramco","tag-baroudi","tag-democracy","tag-doha","tag-embargo","tag-gas","tag-gazprom","tag-international-maritime-disputes","tag-lebanon","tag-maritime-disputes","tag-offshore","tag-oil","tag-opec","tag-putin","tag-qatar","tag-rosneft","tag-roudi","tag-russia","tag-saudi","tag-straddling-hydrocarbons-reserves","tag-total","tag-trump","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}