The first of four new single-point mooring facilities will be ready to commence operations on Jan. 25, according to a report from Bloomberg. If correct, this would be a pull-forward of the schedule reported by Reuters on 4th Jan. Dhia Jaafar, director general of South Oil Company, said the project involves laying pipelines, building eight […]
AKnews reports that over 16 million pilgrims flocked to Karbala to mark Arbain, the 40th day after Ashura, which is the day Shiite's believe Imam Hussein Ibn Ali was martyred in the 7th century. The deputy leader of the Karbala Provincial Council Nassif, Jassem al-Khutabi, told AKnews that over half a million come from abroad, […]
Iraq’s new media law, the product of several years of debate, is supposed to protect journalists, but it has been the subject of much controversy. Hazim al-Sharaa, an IWPR editor in Iraq, looks at why some fear the legislation will restrict rather than enhance freedom of speech. Can you describe the new media law? This […]
Rabee Securities Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) market report (week ending: 12th January 2012). Please click here to download a table of listed companies and their associated ticker codes. The RSISX index ended the week at ID1,456 / $1,598, -1.5% (weekly change). The number of weekly traded shares was 3.1 bn and the weekly trading volume […]
The year 2012 has not begun well for Iraq. Levels of violence rose in the country last week, with at least 107 people killed and 300 injured in nationwide incidents. Several of the latest bombings have targeted pilgrims gathering in the centre of the country to mark Arba’een. The holy religious period is currently at […]
Russia’s Interfax news agency reports that OAO Bashneft is in talks to form a consortium to develop Iraqi oil fields. The company, controlled by billionaire Vladimir Evtushenkov’s AFK Sistema, reportedly wants to be a junior partner in a consortium that will bid in the next round of tenders for Iraqi oil fields. (Source: Bloomberg)
Reuters reports that a Japanese consortium is planning to build and operate a $2 billion fertilizer plant in Basra. Citing an article from Japanese business daily The Nikkei, they say the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will provide up to 150 million yen ($2 million) to Mitsui, Toyo Engineering Corp and Tokyo-based consulting firm Unico […]
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. […]
Azzaman reports that Iraqi rice yields have dropped to 108,000 tons from an average 200,000 tons it used to produce annually, increasing the country’s reliance on imports. Iraq is estimated to have imported more than 1.5 million tons of rice last year. The country’s Grain Board said the year’s rice produce has already been shipped […]
ShaMaran Petroleum shares fell by 33% on Thursday following this update on its Pulkhana and Arbat blocks in Kurdistan: ShaMaran Petroleum is in the process of examining options to re-focus its asset base in Kurdistan and as a consequence has agreed with the Kurdistan Regional Government to suspend operations on both the Pulkhana and Arbat […]
AKnews reports that uniformed militants have blown up about 10 machine tools used by Sonangol, Angola’s national oil company, in the province of Nineveh on Thursday. Sonangol won contracts to develop the al-Najma and al-Qayara oil fields near the provincial capital Mosul in 2009. The equipment was blown up by IEDs that were placed inside […]
A 3,000 acre industrial town is to be built in the Arbat district of Sulaymaniyah Governorate, according to a report from AKnews. Sulaymaniyah Investment Commission met with a number of private companies this week to discuss the master plan for "The Industrial Town of Arbat District", which will involve an initial investment of $3 billion […]
