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Bahr al-Ulum called Arab and foreign companies to invest oil in Nasiriyah
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Translated by IRAQdirecotry.com - [5/4/2007]
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Dr. Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloom, former oil minister, said that Arab and foreign companies should be invited to participate actively to invest oil fields in Nassiriya which enjoys stable security that allows companies and professionals to work in it and in other southern regions.
This invitation of the Iraqi former minister came during a symposium held to discuss the oil and gas draft law which was adopted by the government recently and created a controversy among the public. He expected that Iraqi South Oil Company will witness over the next two years a quantum leap, with the qualifications and oil cadre it has it can contribute to creating a climate for a work program that will increase production of Nasiriyah oil fields; he also hoped the establishment of an Institute for oil Cadres development just like the ones in the rest of the provinces.
Bahr al-Uloom said in a symposium organized by the Union of Businessmen in the province that the Ministry of Oil to should seriously consider the establishment of Oil Institute in Nasiriyah.
He disclosed that Nasiriyah owns 5% of Iraq's certain reserves and that it contains main fields which are: Nasiriyah, Al-Gharraf and Al-Rafidein, pointing out that there are no less than 12 fields in exploratory area within the province and joint ones between it and the neighboring governorates.
He said that increasing production in the province will make the its representative a member in the Oil and Gas Federation in a short period of time since provinces represented in the Federation Council should have a production ceiling equivalent to 100 thousand barrels per day and over, and this could be achieved in Nasiriyah in a short period of time if citizens of the province pressed on the South Oil Company and the Ministry to begin developing the fields; there is also a great potential of future cooperation between the South Oil Company and other international companies, expressing his conviction that if the oil law is approved after amending some of its paragraphs in a way that serve interest of Iraqi people, it will achieve a quality leap and will be able to absorb unemployment in Iraq.
He called for Arab and foreign companies to contribute in establishing a large investment liquidator in Nasiriyah at the capacity of 300 thousand barrels per day and there was a positive response from the European and Japanese companies, but they are all waiting for the legislations on the legal protection of investments.
On his part, Ahmed Abdul Wahid, chairman of the Businessmen Federation, confirmed the Union's role in discussing many of the things which aim to raise the general level of the country and especially Nasiriyah.
While participants in the symposium stressed the importance of these seminars, Engineer Alaa Hassan Chairman of the Energy Council said that the law has many positive aspects, as in any other law in addition to the negatives and weaknesses and added: many of the policies that had befallen the country in that era was the comprehensive outlook of the economy and thus the oil hegemony over all the oil resources has led to what we are in now of weak oil production as well as the weakness in manufacturing oil, while the oil law carries with it positive points like the transition, investment, strengthening production and restructuring the National Oil Company which is the centerpiece of this law since the re-establishment of this Company will make a significant contribution to raising oil production capacity.
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