i know enough of iraq to know that no western company will risk its personnel there .... it makes Baku look like nirvana

unless it's in the south eh....cynic

i may be wrong, but i don't think there are any major european companies with offices manned by europeans anywhere in iraq .... the french may have, but then they have a well-earned reputation in such countries

however, i would still stand by my chart/impetus comment from a few posts back

Extremely bad news for Petrel today...SELL now.

Petrel has been cheated by the Iraqis.

surely not!

This will get sorted or co's will be reluctant to do business with IOM. (He says hopefully)
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I've had my doubts about this one for some time now and if nothing is awarded to them at the end of this month well : 10p will be on the cards, if everything is sorted back to 50p. so this is very very risky !.

I must have fallen off my perch but I have bought some on reading through the RNS again...oil instead of payment....not a bad idea !....but this is very risky indeed....!

rf---'oil instead of payment' has to be agree'd of course, but not a bad option. I see buying just outways selling atm, I think your purchase today will look shrewd over the coming weeks/months. Good Luck All.
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Petrel Resources bogged down in Iraq - Business Financial Newswire


Petrel Resources made an operating loss of 0.85m, up from 0.58m, in 2008 as revenue plunged to 8.2m from the previous 29m in the face of problems in Iraq.

The company says it has not been paid for work done on the large Subba and Luhais contract.

'Since signing the $197 million contract in 2005 and receiving $20 million advance into a JV account from the Iraqi authorities, Petrel has completed approximately 50% of the project work.

'The work has been approved by the authorities. We have billed $54 million against the project Letter of Credit, but the funds have not been disbursed.

'Protracted discussions have been ongoing for 16 months. Agreements have been reached, the latest in March 2009, where payments are promised but to no avail. With extreme reluctance, we put the Subba and Luhais project on care and maintenance in October 2008, and temporarily disbanded a world class technical team.

'What is frustrating is that solutions have been negotiated and agreed by both sides but not implemented. Petrel has proposed to the authorities that we are happy not to take payment in cash. Instead, we could take over operatorship of the field, complete the development ourselves, and take payment in the form of oil. This proposal is well received in certain circles, but the lack of a Hydrocarbon Law makes it difficult to implement.'

In March this year, an institutional shareholder offered funding. Two other investors agreed to participate in the placing and $3m was raised. Petrel says this money will keep it going for the next 18 months.

Chairman John Teeling said, 'We want to stay in Iraq. We want to be part of the oil industry development. We want to do this as a principal, not a contractor.

'The opportunity in Iraqi oil has not changed. Oil costs $2 a barrel to produce. There are over 70 known fields waiting to be developed. It makes absolutely no sense that oil production in Iraq is falling to less than 2.4m barrels a day when it can rise to 10m barrels a day. Iraq badly needs the revenue and the world needs the oil.

'It is the potential which keeps Petrel in Iraq. The political, legal administrative and banking uncertainty will, and must, clarify. We believe that we can work through the labyrinth of Baghdad, get paid, and deliver a 200,000 barrel a day oil field to the people of Iraq.'

What happened to the bidding and license awards ?.., anybody aufait ?...

funny youi should say that, but was thinking self-same yesterday .... mind you, that whole open process is or will be a charade, with all the bribery and horse-trading happening behind the scenes

I was expecting some real ups and downs on : PET,GPX,HOIL and a few others...but : nothing !?...

My understanding was only BP. awarded contract rest of bids were too low, were meant to bid again Have read nothing since. If you already know this sorry!

if so, for sure the pic will not stay that way

there is a lot of hatred of all who had dealings with the previous regime, which will take time to eradicate, this is showing in the way the company had to get funds to continue, and why it had to lay off specialised staff to continue in the game.
since the recent company statement , worth reading,including a very vallid point regarding the fact that the company had no signed legal contract for some areas.
I feel a better gamble would be heritage about to merger with a turkish oil company
in kurdistan area. the authorities will need to tread even more carefully with the kurds than any other party.

Could this be good news at last for PET?
Courtesy of balerboy from the Oil News thread (shortened version)
BAGHDAD, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- The Cabinet of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki approved a draft law to reinstate the Iraq National Oil Co., sending the matter for parliamentary approval.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh confirmed Cabinet approval of the measure during the weekend, the Voices of Iraq news agency reports.

"The Cabinet has decided to approve a draft law on the Iraq National Oil Co. and referred it to the Parliament," he said.

Baghdad sees the reinstatement of a national oil company as a key to boosting oil production while securing government control over energy resources.

Dabbagh said the Maliki government approved the measure to ensure exploration, development and production of national hydrocarbon reserves moved forward.

Previous efforts for a national oil company had stalled over ethnic disputes over the share of Iraqi oil wealth.
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why should this be good news for this diddly company?
i really don't see PET as a worthwhile investement for all sorts of reasons, though per the 5 year chart below, if you feel compelled, the 30p may be an entry level to contemplate

Iraq needs to produce more oil and may be, just may be PET will be one of the beneficiaries this time, it sure as hell wouldn't be 'out of turn'.
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