Basra Oil Company: Integrity Commission findings on overpriced loading arms, forged purchase documents and a split tender, and a bribery conviction (from 2018 to 2023)
Between 2018 and 2023 the Federal Integrity Commission announced a series of findings at the state-owned Basra Oil Company. In May 2019 it said the company had bought three loading arms from two international companies for USD 126 million, or USD 42 million each, while the company's own cost officer put the real value at USD 13 million each; in September 2018 it had reported two marine tugs worth USD 30 million that did not meet specifications. In November 2020 it seized 113 forged purchase documents under which IQD 1.4 billion had been paid to fictitious shops, and detained the secretary of a department manager and his brother as the recipients. In 2023 it reported 27 failed valves worth USD 3.2 million received from a US company, a USD 50 million arbitration award to Mammoet after a salvage contract was stopped, irregular tender awards and two contracts given to Eni at the Zubair field, and a USD 85 million tender split to avoid central approval. In July 2023 the commission said a person who paid bribes to Oil Ministry officials for Basra Oil contracts had been sentenced in absentia to two ten-year terms.
- Period
- From September 2018 to December 2023
- Sector
- Oil and gasUpstream company procurement (Basra Oil Company)
- Kind of case
- Audit finding
- Jurisdiction
- Federal Iraq
How the money moved, according to the sources
Overpricing against the company's own cost estimates, payments against forged documents, splitting a tender to stay below approval limits, acceptance of defective goods, and bribery of officials for contract awards, according to the Integrity Commission.
What happened
One bribery conviction in absentia (July 2023, two ten-year terms). Other findings were referred to investigating judges; outcomes are not on record.
Open questions
- Names of the two loading-arm suppliers and of the US valve supplier.
- Identity of the 'former fugitive official' who received bribes, and whether the July 2023 verdict is linked to the Unaoil affair (see Unaoil bribery of South Oil Company and Oil Ministry officials for "Master Plan" contracts (from 2005 to 2011)).
- Outcome of the 2020 forged-documents case.
People and companies
| Name | Role in the case | Legal status | Detail | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person convicted of paying bribes for Basra Oil Company contracts (name not given) مدان بدفع رشى مقابل عقود من شركة نفط البصرة (لم يُذكر اسمه) | Recipient of Basra Oil Company contracts and privileges, according to the Integrity Commission | Convicted (reported) | Sentenced in absentia by the Central Anti-Corruption Criminal Court to two ten-year terms under article 310 of the Penal Code for paying bribes and commissions to Oil Ministry officials, including a fugitive former official, according to the Integrity Commission (27 July 2023). Name not given; judgment not seen. | 19 October 2026 |
| Secretary of the operational equipment department manager, Basra Oil Company (name not given) سكرتير مدير قسم المعدات التشغيلية في شركة نفط البصرة (لم يُذكر اسمه) | Employee, Basra Oil Company | Arrested | Detained in November 2020 as one of the two recipients of IQD 1.4 billion paid against 113 forged purchase documents, according to the Integrity Commission. Outcome is not on record. | 19 October 2026 |
| Head of the projects department, Zubair Field Operating Division (name not given) مدير قسم المشاريع في هيئة تشغيل حقل الزبير (لم يُذكر اسمه) | Official, Zubair Field Operating Division, Basra Oil Company | Accused by an official body | Not charged as of the date of writing. The Integrity Commission said he exceeded his powers by splitting a USD 85 million tender to avoid approval by the central energy council (December 2023). Name not given. | 19 October 2026 |
| Mammoet ماموت | Salvage contractor (described by the Integrity Commission as Italian) whose 2013 contract to raise the sunken vessel 'Amuriya' was stopped | Not charged as of the date of writing | Not charged as of the date of writing. Won an international arbitration award of USD 50 million against the Basra Oil Company after the contract was stopped without legal grounds, according to the Integrity Commission. No charge, court ruling, sanction or official finding is on record in the sources read. | 19 October 2026 |
| Eni إيني | Contractor at the Zubair field (two contracts named by the Integrity Commission) | Not charged as of the date of writing | Not charged as of the date of writing. The Integrity Commission reported irregularities in the award of tenders and of two contracts to Eni by the Zubair Field Operating Division (October 2023). No charge, court ruling, sanction or official finding is on record in the sources read. | 19 October 2026 |
Sources
- Alsumaria News13 May 2019Integrity Commission statementTier B
النزاهة تضبط مغالاةً في عقدي شراء أذرع تحميلٍ بـ126 مليون دولار
Original addressقيمة الذراع الواحدة 42 مليون دولارٍ"، مُبيِّنةً أن "تحرِّياتها قادت إلى وجود مغالاةٍ في الأسعار التي تمَّ التعاقد عليها؛ لشراء ثلاث أذرعٍ بقيمة (126) مليون دولارٍ
- Kurdistan2413 May 2019Integrity Commission statementTier B
Iraq reveals big corruption file in Basra oil contracts involving two int. companies
Original addressThe statement did not specify the name of the two international companies in question, nor the date the contracts were signed.
- Alsumaria News9 November 2020Integrity Commission statementTier B
النزاهة: ضبط 113 مستنداً مزوراً في شركة نفط البصرة صُرِفَ بموجبها 1,4 مليار دينار
Original addressقام بضبط (113) مستنداً مزوراً (وهمياً) خاصا بشراء المواد الاحتياطية لقسم المعدات النفطية في الشركة تم بموجبها صرف مبلغ (1,400,000,000) مليار دينار من قبل الهيئة المالية للشركة
- 964 Media12 February 2023Integrity Commission statementTier B
النزاهة تضبط 27 صماماً تسلمته نفط البصرة من شركة أميركية رغم عدم صلاحيته
Original addressالفريق ضبط (27) صمَّاماً نفطياً مُجهَّزة من قبل إحدى الشركات الأمريكيَّة، وبالفحص تبيَّن أنَّها فاشلة وغير صالحةٍ للعمل، حسب تقرير اللجنة المُوفدة إلى الولايات المُتَّحدة الأمريكيَّة
- 964 Media27 July 2023Integrity Commission statementTier B
حكمان غيابيان بالسجن 20 سنة لمتهم دفع رشاوى لمسؤولين في وزارة النفط
Original addressعلى خلفيَّة تقديمه رشاوى وعمولاتٍ لعددٍ من المسؤولين في وزارة النفط، من بينهم مسؤول سابق هارب؛ لقاء حصوله على امتيازاتٍ وعقودٍ من شركة نفط البصرة، دون وجه حق
- Shafaq News16 October 2023Integrity Commission statementTier B
رصد هدر 50 مليون دولار في شركة نفط البصرة
Original addressبرصد هدر (50) مليون دولار بعد إيقاف عقد أبرمته الشركة مع شركة "ماموت" الإيطاليـة لانتشال الغارق "عمورية"، موضحة أن الشركة الإيطالية لجأت إلى التحكيم الدولي؛ للمطالبة بالتعويض عن الخسائر المترتبة على إيقاف العقد
- 964 Media20 December 2023Integrity Commission statementTier B
النزاهة تضبط تلاعباً بمناقصة قيمتها 85 مليون دولار في شركة نفط البصرة
Original addressقيام الهيئة بتوقيع عقدٍ بكلفة (17,000,000) مليون دولارٍ؛ لتنفيذ أنابيب الجريان لحقن المياه لآبار النفط بعد تجزئة مناقصةٍ تبلغ قيمتها الإجماليَّة (85,000,000) مليون دولارٍ خلافاً للقانون وتجاوز الصلاحيَّات من قبل مدير قسم المشاريع في الهيئة