Anglo-Dutch oil major Shell, which operates a major gas project in southern Iraq, is in talks with the country's new government to navigate “exceptional circumstances” following the outbreak of Covid-19, as the company relocates staff following a security breach.
"The onset of Covid-19 and global slump in oil prices are exceptional circumstances that affect Shell as well as the government of Iraq," a Shell spokesman told The National.
"We have been in discussion with our partners in the government of Iraq to find ways to navigate through these exceptional circumstances and agree plans for [Basrah Gas Company's] ongoing operations and growth projects,” he added.
The Basrah Gas Company is a joint venture between the Iraqi-state owned South Gas Company, which holds a majority stake and Shell, which has a 44 per cent interest. Mitsubishi Corporation has a 5 per cent stake.
The venture accounted for 945 million cubic feet per day of month of monthly gas production in 2018. Iraq, Opec’s second-biggest oil producer, has a gas output of around 1 billion cf/d, of which nearly three quarters is flared because there is not enough infrastructure to process it.
Projects such as the Shell venture in the south are critical for meeting Iraq’s growing need for electricity by capturing more of the gas produced in the country's southern oil fields.
Gas flaring from the southern fields has meant Iraq has lost billions of dollars in revenue over the past decade. A study by Siemens in 2018 said that Iraq could save about $5.2 billion (Dh19.1bn) over the next four years by reducing gas flared from its fields.
Despite having abundant hydrocarbon resources, Iraq is still dependent on the import of gas and electricity from neighbouring Iran. Rehabilitating the country’s power infrastructure, ravaged by decades of war, is another top priority for the government.
Shell confirmed that a “security breach” at an accommodation camp resulted in the relocation of all Shell secondees.
"All staff and contractors are safe and BGC production is not impacted. Shell staff will continue to work remotely in their BGC roles,” the spokesman said.
There is no “short-term impact” on the JV’s ability to operate or on its production levels, he said.
The spokesman declined to comment on reports that 60 foreign workers had been evacuated from the country.
Multinational companies and oil majors working in Iraq have faced multiple challenges arising from unrest within the country or geopolitical tensions that have flared up over the past year.
The US pulled oil workers from Iraq earlier this year following Washington’s assassination of Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s top military commander on a visit to Baghdad, which led to retaliatory strikes on US facilities in Iraq.
A number of American workers are deployed across oil sites in Iraq, where US majors Exxon Mobil and Chevron operate large fields.
In May last year, Exxon withdrew around 60 workers, mostly US nationals, after Washington ordered non-emergency personnel to leave Iraq, citing unspecified threats.
Ahmed Tabaqchali, chief investment officer at the AFC Iraq Fund and a fellow at the Kurdistan-based Institute of Regional and International Studies, said the latest incident impacting foreign workers was different.
"American companies tend to react extremely quickly to any questions of risk while European companies are different, so the two cases are not comparable,” he said.
"Exxon was in response to rocket attacks and so forth … and this has been different because if we read the story so far, it’s about delayed payments. Until we get to the bottom of it, what exactly happened, it’s difficult to answer,” he added.
Iraq’s new government has been formed under the leadership of Mustafa Al Kadhimi, a former intelligence officer supported by the US, after nearly six months of political deadlock.
Iraq's appointments for interior and defence ministers both come from the country's armed forces, Mr Tabaqchali said.
"That tells you what they’re focused on and that’s not only for the protection of foreign workers, but to be sure, protection of everybody else, because when you have militias interfering, you have disruptions,” he said.
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Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
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MATCH INFO
Sheffield United 0 Wolves 2 (Jimenez 3', Saiss 6)
Man of the Match Romain Saiss (Wolves)
Ahmed Raza
UAE cricket captain
Age: 31
Born: Sharjah
Role: Left-arm spinner
One-day internationals: 31 matches, 35 wickets, average 31.4, economy rate 3.95
T20 internationals: 41 matches, 29 wickets, average 30.3, economy rate 6.28
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Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
MATCH INFO
Everton 2 Southampton 1
Everton: Walcott (15'), Richarlison (31' )
Southampton: Ings (54')
Man of the match: Theo Walcott (Everton)
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
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Common to all models unless otherwise stated
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An exchange traded fund is a type of investment fund that can be traded quickly and easily, just like stocks and shares. They come with no upfront costs aside from your brokerage's dealing charges and annual fees, which are far lower than on traditional mutual investment funds. Charges are as low as 0.03 per cent on one of the very cheapest (and most popular), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, with the maximum around 0.75 per cent.
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The first ETF was launched as recently as 1993, but the sector boasted $5.78 billion in assets under management at the end of September as inflows hit record highs, according to the latest figures from ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five largest providers BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisers, Deutsche Bank X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
While the best-known track major indices such as MSCI World, the S&P 500 and FTSE 100, you can also invest in specific countries or regions, large, medium or small companies, government bonds, gold, crude oil, cocoa, water, carbon, cattle, corn futures, currency shifts or even a stock market crash.
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Director: Jordan Peele
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