Speculation is rife that Iraq’s Warka Bank has collapsed, but its managing director said that it has not collapsed but has faced problems due to a recent decision of the Iraqi government to withdraw over $1.6 billion from the bank. Our resident blogger on economic issues, Mark DeWeaver, recently reported on the mysteries of Warka's rights issue. […]
Lukoil and partners, Statoil and the Iraqi state, have issued four new tenders for construction and energy projects at Iraq’s West Qurna 2 oilfield, according to reports from Reuters. The tenders are for the construction of: an oil export pipeline; a tank farm at Tuba; a power distribution station and an associated gas processing plant; […]
Britain's Sunday Telegraph understands that the Iraq-focused oil explorer Gulf Keystone (LSE: GKP) intends to move its listing from London's junior 'AIM' market to the main London Stock Exchange (LSE). With a market capitalisation of over £700m ($1.1bn) it has grown much larger than the market's usual members. A move to the LSE's Official List, […]
The new deal between Iraq's central government and Turkey on the Ceyhan pipeline reportedly blocks the export of oil and gas from Kurdistan without Baghdad's approval. Both AKnews and Azzaman report that Turkey's Energy Minister, Taner Yildiz, has agreed not to transport Kurdish oil and gas unless Baghdad agrees. Speaking to AKnews, Ali Hussein Balo, […]
The Iraqi Oil Minister renewed a contract with Turkey to transport crude oil through the Turkish port of Ceyhan for 15 years, at volumes of more than one million barrels per day (bpd). The deal is expected to strengthen economic relations between Baghdad and Ankara. AKnews reports that Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said in Baghdad […]
The new Sheraton Hotel in Basra was formally opened on Saturday, with a large gathering in attendance. But as we recently reported, the company in charge of building the hotel has run into problems with the tourism board in Basra because the project was not completed on time. The general supervisor of Summar Company, Sara […]
An initial agreement between Iraq and Syria to build a pipeline to the Mediterranean envisions one crude pipeline with a capacity of 1.5 million barrels per day and another with a capacity of 1.25m bpd, an Iraqi government spokesman said yesterday. Ali Al Dabbagh said that the larger of the two pipelines would carry heavier […]
Rumours of a delay in Iraq's gas auction have proved to be true, with companies being given an additional three weeks to consider their response to the new contract terms. Both AKnews and MEED report that the new deadline for submissions is extended from 1st October to 20th October. AKnews suggests that as many as […]
Iraq's core annual inflation rose to 1.9 percent in August from 1.7 percent in July, according to Reuters, quoting an official at the Central Bank. "The core inflation is stable, this is a normal rise due to the increase of food prices during the month of Ramadan," sais Mudher Kasim, a senior adviser in the […]
The Diyala State Company For Electrical Industries had sales of more than 4.12 billion dinars ($3.4 million) during August, according to a statement from the Industry Ministry. “The company has supplied the electricity distribution departments in Missan, Anbar and Diala with 308 generators to improve the performance of their networks,” said the statement received by […]
First, a lesson to designers! We were involved in a team presentation for a large development, which required of course its iconic centrepiece building. The designer took inspiration from the current fashion for twisted shaped buildings, and it did indeed look very gracious. However, the client team leader interpreted it as a representation of the […]
Shares in Sterling Energy (LSE: SEY), the AIM-listed oil & gas company with interests Iraqi Kurdistan, fell 40% in early trading this morning following an update on its activities at Sangaw North: Sangaw North #1 Exploration Well The exploration well has been drilled to an intermediate depth of 2,395m and open-hole wire-line log data acquired […]
