We understand the needs of the marketplace and are driven by our expertise in the security arena. Today's world is replete with geopolitical, cultural and ideological tensions which creates risks that need to be mitigated.
You’d be surprised how many UK-based Oil executives are buzzing in and out of Basra’s American base – the COB (contingency operating base).
Once the former British base connected to the Basra airport, it’s used for meetings with officials and as a hub for many of the oil and gas companies now operating in the Region.
The American mission in Basra, Iraq’s oil capital, is perhaps unlike that of any U.S. outpost in the world: to ensure the world’s largest oil companies have as few problems as possible as they start work on Iraqi oil contracts that could see the country become the largest producer ever.
Of the 18 firms that formed winning consortiums for 11 oil development deals over the past year, only two were American companies. Yet the U.S. military presence in Iraq and the State Department has been ordered to help.
“U.S. government policy at this time is that the USG in Iraq should assist in facilitating the mobilization of these companies without regard to the nationality of the companies,” said Kenneth Thomas, head of the energy and transportation section of the Basra Provincial Reconstruction Team, a U.S. Embassy initiative. “If more American companies come into Iraq, we will of course assist them in any way we can.”
The British maintain a consulate on the base and rent space to the two British oil companies awarded deals.
The base is set up to support companies working on Rumaila, Zubair, West Qurna and Majnoon, the four fields that will be the engine of Iraq’s oil rise.
The international firms are expected to bring technology, training and expertise that Iraq’s once-modern oil sector lost over the past three decades of wars, sanctions and misuse by a dictator, ultimately increasing Iraq’s oil production capacity from about 2.6 million barrels per day (bpd) to more than 12.5 million bpd within seven years.
This presents a real opportunity for UK corporates who form part of the oil and gas supply chain.
Phil Haase, Managing Director of Haase Associates said,
“We’re seeing more and more of our clients begin to put Iraq on their strategic road map. But they need to get in quickly, pretty soon the market will be flooded. We’re advising clients on entry – covering everything from emergency response, life support on the ground to physical security teams and the management of local nationals. Between them, our Management team has over 50 yrs experience in the country – it’s a potentially unstable environment, but if the risks are managed then the rewards can be huge.
"As more and more corporates enter the environment, employment levels will rise and poverty (and hence security) will be less of an issue in the region. There’s a key strategic investment going on right now, and that’s the rebuild of the refinery. It’s vital for the region’s oil infrastructure and the global oil and gas supply chain is pre-empting this. ”
Rumaila, within six years, is supposed to produce 2.85 million bpd, making it the second-largest producing oil field in the world.
“We’ve just been on client site in Rumaila and it’s one of the best operating bases I have seen from a security assurance perspective. Stretching over 140,000 sq ft, this site has had security assurance designed in. It just goes to show how security can be included in the design phases of any operation. This year we’ll advise on our biggest project yet.”
Today, Iraq earns 95 percent of its state income by selling oil – nearly $27 billion so far this year.
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