Another newcomer to the main market...anybody any idea what the production figures are ?

hehe this guy and his buddy Tim Spicer were lucky to get out of Moresby alive; now they could probably pay cash for the country...

looks as though buys + sells are pretty much even, the former even outnumbering the latter, so guess MMs just shaking out some stock (560) ..... good time to buy in if you don't already hold

A dogs dinner going on here.

Iraq oil minister say the Turks and Kurdies operations are illegal. Something to that effect.....

Iraq says Kurd oil deals illegal, Kurds foot bill

Reuters, Wednesday June 10 2009 * Iraq reaffirms Kurdish oil deals illegal
* Rejects paying private oil firms in Kurdish deals
* Confirms winners of oil bids to be announced end of June
(Adds byline, quotes)
By Ahmed Rasheed
BAGHDAD, June 10 (Reuters) - Contracts that semi-autonomous Kurdish authorities have signed with private oil firms are illegal until they are ratified by the Oil Ministry in Baghdad, the Iraqi government reaffirmed on Wednesday.
Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani also rejected paying firms that have developed the Taq Taq and Tawke oil fields in northern Iraq as part of contracts signed independently with the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG).
"These contracts need to be ratified by the Iraqi federal Oil Ministry. Till that time they are illegal," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told reporters at a news conference with Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani.
After the conference, Shahristani told reporters: "We will not discuss any compensation for these companies (developers of Taq Taq and Tawke) under any circumstances."
His statement could ratchet up tensions between Baghdad and the KRG, which has said it would not pay Norway's DNO International, Toronto-listed Addax Petroleum and Turkey's Genel Enerji, from its own purse. Genel is to merge with Britain's Heritage Oil.
Shahristani said the KRG should pay the firms from the 17 percent of the federal budget it gets each year, an option ruled out by Kurdish natural resources minister Ashti Hawrami.
The Iraqi government at the beginning of the month allowed crude to start being exported from Tawke and Taq Taq.
That seemed to represent a break in a long-running dispute between the Shi'ite Arab-led government in Baghdad and minority Kurds over land, power and Iraq's vast oil resources.
KURDISH DEALS UNRESOLVED
But while giving a nod to exports, Baghdad still refused to recognise the actual development contracts signed with the firms, making it unclear how DNO and the others would be paid.
The central government says all oil deals must be approved by the Oil Ministry and opposes the production sharing agreements favoured by the Kurds. Instead, Baghdad at the end of this month will announce the results of its first tender for fixed-fee service contracts in some of its prized oil fields.
Some lie near the disputed city of Kirkuk, contested by Kurds, Arabs and ethnic Turkmen. Hawrami has said the KRG would reject any deals for those fields if it did not like the terms.
"No one has the right to veto the decisions of the central government, whether those are decisions about oil or about anything else," Shahristani retorted on Wednesday.
Shahristani has defended his record against criticism that Iraq's oil output of 2.3-2.4 million barrels per day remains at below the level it was at before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
He faces calls to testify before parliament.
The joint news conference with Dabbagh appeared to be a signal that the government intended to stand by Shahristani as he prepares to announce the results of the first round of service contract tenders over two days on June 29/30.
Dabbagh said he hoped new oil and gas laws -- held up in parliament -- will resolve the issue of oil deals.
In a conciliatory tone that suggested the government's stance could be softening despite its rhetoric, Dabbagh also said the launch of Kurdish crude exports was good for Iraq, which desperately needs money to rebuild after years of war.
"It will narrow the gaps between the different points of views," he said. (Additional reporting by Mohammed Abbas; Editing by Keiron Henderson)

Sold out as soon as I saw the news.

Would have been better going it alone.

Brian Rix couldnt have written a better farce than this.

oh for sure there's some more sabre-rattling to come, but it'll be no more than that even if it all takes a while to resolve and oil to flow

also take note of the last para of that RNS

ouch! ..... at the moment at least, looks as though i should have taken profits

Took your eye off the ball cynic, just come in from work and couldn't believe my eyes.

confess i did not see the RNS until sticky digit pointed it out ...... anyway, lots of 2-way traffic and i guess some profit-taking was overdue ..... still reckon it's a load of sabre rattling for the press and hoi polloi

Luckily took a small portion of profits earlier on .....but this is a real knock back !.

maybe .... but buys/sells were level

Hope that this does not drop anymore, still in with a hefty amount of shares...!....it shows that in this market, this year it is good to take profits along the way !.

still nicely in the money here and fully expect it all to bounce back .... just hope it's not too scary in the meantime

Was hanging on and hoping for a drop so I could get in.... got more than i bargained for. lol As cynic says buys and sells level, possible up again quite soon. do i dip my toes tomorrow a.m. or wait and see?? Crystal ball where are you.

crystal balls says yes

Bagdad probably will have to send experts to the Kurdish oilfields to check things over and stamp their approval over it.....then they will work out who gets what in percentage terms but if they are saying it is good for Iraq that there are new oil exports : well it does look like that in the end everybody will be happy....I'm pretty certain that the Bagdad authorities will not want a blocking by the Kurds of exports and money flowing in !.

this last bit of the RNS was the most important ......

Shahristani (he's the geezer what was jumping up and down!) has defended his record against criticism that Iraq's oil output of 2.3-2.4 million barrels per day remains at below the level it was at before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
He faces calls to testify before parliament.
The joint news conference with Dabbagh appeared to be a signal that the government intended to stand by Shahristani as he prepares to announce the results of the first round of service contract tenders over two days on June 29/30.
Dabbagh said he hoped new oil and gas laws -- held up in parliament -- will resolve the issue of oil deals.
In a conciliatory tone that suggested the government's stance could be softening despite its rhetoric, Dabbagh also said the launch of Kurdish crude exports was good for Iraq, which desperately needs money to rebuild after years of war.
"It will narrow the gaps between the different points of views," he said.

On this there should be a rebound tomorrow....oil is at the moment in a rising trend : $71.34 when I last looked...producers and explorers with assets should continue to rise.

Cyners, due dilligence as still to be done on this deal, how on earth can auditors give the thumbs up knowing some operations are illegal????????????.

quite easily actually and the (il)legality is patently debatable depending on whether or not you are an iraqi minister!

The bottom line is : Iraq needs exports of oil and the companies that the Kurds have given the go ahead to (AXC, HOIL..etc) are already up and running and doing a fine job....are the Bagdad authorities really going to put a halt to this ?....it would be a major setback for their exports and the relationship between Northern Iraq and the rest of the country would be strained !.

announce the results of the first round of service contract tenders over two days on June 29/30.

prob heavy volatility until then