IRAQ - Dubai Conferences.

IOCs, including the world's majors, will descend on two key conferences about Iraqi oil in Dubai in September to jockey for position before the passing of the federal law sets off a scramble. Iraqi officials, including Oil Minister Shahristani, will attend the gatherings.

All the big players will be there, including ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Total, ENI and Repsol/YPF, as well as minnows such as DNO and Addax Petroleum, some of which have operations in the KRG area (see above).

David Horgan, Managing Director of Petrel Resources, an Irish explorer with a presence in Iraq since 1999, was on Aug. 20 quoted as saying: "All the oil companies have been salivating at the prospect of Iraq for years. There is a good chance of very large discoveries. Nowhere else in the world offers that". He said once the federal law was passed, IOCs would rush to sign E&P deals. Under intense US pressure, the Baghdad government is expected to push through the federal law before end-October.

Muhammad-Ali Zainy, a former official of the Iraqi Oil Ministry and now at the Centre for Global Energy Studies in London, was on Aug. 20 quoted as saying: "Why do international oil companies rush in to divide the loot at a time when Iraq is submerged in blood? Iraqis will not benefit from this". Iraq has 115 bn barrels of proven oil reserves, of which only 40 bn barrels have been developed. There are large parts of the country which remain unexplored. Experts predict that, eventually, Iraq's oil reserves may exceed 350 bn barrels.