Archive | 2011

Iraq Gives Shell Deadline for Gas Deal

Iraq has warned Shell that it needs to finalise a $12 billion [14.4 trillion Iraqi dinar] gas deal by next week or it would cancel negotiations over the agreement, the country's deputy oil minister, Ahmed al-Shamma, said on Monday. "We warned Shell that either we finalise... the deal next week or we will cancel everything", […]

Deputy President Resigns After Just Two Weeks

One of Iraq's three deputy presidents has stepped down amid signs of divisions in the coalition government formed by Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish factions. Reuters reports that the resignation of Adel Abdul-Mahdi [Adel Abd al-Mahdi] came as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki fends off critics who say he has not delivered on power-sharing promises since forming […]

Former UK Prime Minister Addresses the Kurdish National Assembly

The UK's former prime minister, the Rt Hon Sir John Major KG CH, addressed the Kurdistan National Assembly on Sunday 29th May. The full text of his address is provided below: I am immensely grateful to President Barzani for his kind invitation for me to visit Kurdistan. His invitation was issued a long time ago […]

CNPC Gets First Oil Payment for Rumaila

China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has started to get paid for developing Iraq's Rumaila oilfield, according to reports from the China Petroleum Daily. The company received its first cargo of oil as payment for helping to develop the oilfield on 28th May, two weeks after partner BP loaded its first shipment. A crude oil carrier […]

Rabee Securities Opens Office in Erbil

Rabee Securities has announced the opening of a new branch office in Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan. The company statement says that the "city of Erbil is fast becoming a commercial and industrial hub in Iraq. Rabee Securities' Erbil branch will be the first branch of an ISX licensed broker dealer to start operations in this […]

The Iraqi Spring Comes to an End

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. The opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. […]

Key Bills Moving Through the Iraqi Parliament

The following article was written by Kirk H Sowell, and published in Inside Iraqi Politics. It is reproduced here with permission. The opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Parliament currently lists 79 bills registered for consideration with a committee (list) but not yet […]

KOGAS Doubles Stake in Akkas Gas Field

KOGAS, the Korea Gas Corporation, will double its commitment to develop Iraq's Akkas gas field, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. The move follows the withdrawal of its partner, Kazakhstan state gas company KazMunaiGas, from the project. Kogas, will now have a 75% stake in one of Iraq's largest gas projects, up […]

Iraq to Import Iranian Gas

Bloomberg reports that Iraq has signed an initial agreement to import 25 million cubic meters of natural gas a day from Iran in order to supply its power stations. The agreement provides for the installation of pipelines within 18 months to transport gas from Iran to the Sadr and al-Quds power stations in Baghdad, Mosaab […]

Liebherr Considers Investment in Basra

A delegation from the German company Liebherr visited the Basra Investment Commission (BIC) and discussed available investment opportunities and advantages provided by the Iraqi Investment Law to the investor, in addition to the support for the industrial projects in Basra. The delegation presented a project to build a maintenance center, training center, laboratory and factory, […]