Archive | 12th October 2011

Shahristani Retains Hard Line on KRG Oil Contracts

Iraq's deputy prime minister has said that oil contracts signed by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) must be rewritten, and that recent government payments to international producers in the region in no way validate the contracts, according to a report from Reuters. "The contracts as they stand will have to be presented to the government […]

Iraq Controls Own Airspace for First Time Since 2003

Iraq took responsibility for all of its airspace this month for the first time since the 2003 US-led invasion, according to AFP. The US Air Force (USAF) has transferred management of the Baghdad/Balad Airspace sector to the Iraq Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA). Iraq's air traffic controllers are now directing the movement of all aircraft within […]

Sulaimaniya to Improve Food Security with New Silos

The governorate of Sulaimaniya is planning to build five grain silos by the end of 2012, according to Hama-Hussein Hama-Saeed, deputy general director at the Kurdistan trade ministry. AKnews reports that the silos, worth $116 million (138 billion Iraqi dinars), will have a capacity of 240,000 tons of grain. "With these silos, we'll be able […]

The Iraqi Parliament Closes Down

The following article was published by Reidar Visser, an historian of Iraq educated at the University of Oxford and currently based at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. It is reproduced here with the author’s permission. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. […]

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2 of the 3 Mobile Telcos Select Banks for IPO

Asiacell has selected HSBC and Morgan Stanley to manage its initial public offering (IPO) on the Iraqi bourse, according to Bloomberg. Chief Executive Officer Diar Ahmed told the news agency that the company will offer 25 percent of its shares, but did not specify when. The company, which is an affiliate of Qatar Telecom, is […]

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Weekly Security Update for 12th October 2011

Levels of violence fell slightly in Iraq over the past week, with incidents concentrated in Baghdad, Mosul, and an arc stretching from Taji in Salah ad-Din province to Ba’qubah in Diyala province. Ta’mim province also saw a scattering of incidents while there was at least one successful attack and one prevented in Basrah province. The […]

Halfaya Output to Rise in 2012

Output at Iraq’s Halfaya oilfield will rise to 70,000 barrels a day in 2012 with the drilling of 48 wells, As Sabah newspaper said on Tuesday. Bloomberg reports that two projects valued at a total of $187 million will be built next year at the oilfield. The projects include a crude oil processing facility with […]

Gulf Keystone Updates on Ber Bahr Exploration Well

Gulf Keystone Petroleum has announced that the Ber Bahr-1 Exploration Well has spudded on the Ber Bahr block in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on Monday, 10th October 2011. Ber Bahr-1 is the first exploration well to be drilled on the Ber Bahr block, which covers an area of 208 km² and lies to the […]

Dubai's MAF Eyes Expansion into Iraq

Dubai's Majid Al Futtaim Holding (MAF), sole franchisee of hypermarket chain Carrefour in the Gulf, is to set up a sukuk programme (debt securities structured to comply with the Islamic law) as market volatility continues to thwart its plans for a conventional issue, according to a report from Reuters. MAF completed roadshows for an offering […]