Iraqi authorities aim to decrease the percentage of poverty in the country from 23% to 16% by the year 2014, according to the Planning Ministry's Central Statistics Body on Tuesday. "The strategy to decrease poverty will be activated this year," the Central Statistics Body's official spokesman told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He said that "the […]
The Iraqi unit of Kuwait's Zain expects to add up to 18,000 new subscribers a month after starting operations in Iraq's northern Kurdish region, Reuters has reported. "I would expect that we will be adding around 15,000 to 18,000 (new subscribers) a month," chief executive Emad Makiya told the news agency, adding that the total […]
The Kurdistan Region of Iraq signed two memorandums of understanding with two Swedish counties on Tuesday: Örebro (pictured) and Jönköping. The move aims help Swedish companies to invest in Kurdistan. Both memorandums were signed in a meeting between Erbil's governor, Nawzad Hadi, the mayor of Örebro, a representative of Jönköping, and the Swedish consul in […]
According to a report from AFP, Iraq's northern Kirkuk province said it had stopped supplying electricity to the national grid on Tuesday, in a bold move to force the central government's hand in a dispute over power rationing. "Kirkuk province has decided to cut the power going out from its electricity stations to other provinces […]
WesternZagros Resources has announced that Sproule International has completed an independent audit of the Company's resource assessment of: the Tertiary Eocene and Cretaceous reservoir intervals of Kurdamir-1; the Jeribe reservoir at Sarqala-1; and the Upper Fars reservoir at Mil Qasim in the Kalar-Bawanoor Block ("Block K44"). This audit, together with the previous audit results of […]
[Please click here for update] The Iraqi National Rail Company announced on Sunday that under its supervision the urban rail project in the Iraqi capital will be completed in 2013.. According to AKnews, the company’s press secretary, Jawad Kharsani, said the project will be carried out in conjunction with the French company Tharyom (sic) [Iraq […]
By Stan Harbison, Vice President of Research and Analysis at energy consultants EPRINC. In the past week, the ministry announced that two fields won at Iraq’s 2009 oil auctions had achieved their first significant benchmark. Production at Rumaila and Zubair each met the 10% production increase which allows them to begin to earn their per […]
The Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, met the Iraqi Parliament Speaker, Osama al-Nujaifi, in Baghdad on Sunday and congratulated him on his election as the Parliament Speaker. Davutoglu said he was pleased over the developments in Iraq and underlined that, "we will be pleased to see inclusion of Iraq to a free trade zone among […]
Bloomberg, quoting the Nikkei newspaper, says Mitsubishi's gas project in Iraq will receive long-term trade credit insurance from Japan's state-backed Nippon Export and Investment Insurance. According to the report, this is the first time in 21 years that Japan has provided this facility for a venture in the Middle East. The company will insure Mitsubishi’s […]
According to a report from Iraq's National Media Centre, the new port at Faw [Fao], when completed, will reduce transport costs between Europe and Asia. Salah al-Khadir said the project will shorten the distance between Iraq and the other countries of the world, and especially the vessels coming from Asia to Eastern Europe, indicating that […]
In a recent interview on EU's energy security with World Security Network Foundation (WSN), former Austrian Chancellor Dr. Wolfgang Schüssel (pictured) said that Europe should also diversify sources of energy supply by looking, for instance, to the Kurdish Region of Iraq. Europe is heavily dependent on Russia for its energy supply, especially natural gas, which […]
Iraq, the third-largest producer in OPEC, cut the official price formulas for all its crude grades and destinations for February, according to price lists published by the State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO). Basrah Light and Kirkuk, the two grades sold by the Middle Eastern state, will sell for 20 cents a barrel less in February […]
