Archive | 2015

Parsons Wins SOC Seawater Supply Project

By John Lee. Parsons has announced that it was recently awarded the front-end engineering design (FEED) for South Oil Company’s Common Seawater Supply Project in southern Iraq. This landmark project will provide 12.5 million barrels of water per day (bwpd) of treated seawater to oilfields in southern Iraq. Parsons’ scope of work includes conducting 14 […]

Baroness Nicholson leads Meetings with Iraqi Ministers

Baroness Nicholson and a delegation of Iraq Britain Business Council (IBBC) members had a meeting in Baghdad with Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister, Dr Rowsch Shaways, followed by an exchange of views with Iraq’s Minister of Oil, HE Adel Abdul-Mehdi. The meetings were extremely informative and Minister Abdul-Mehdi made a point in welcoming and encouraging further […]

US Devotes More Resources to Iraq

By Patrick Schmidt. The United States military has repositioned and deployed additional military resources to Iraq in the wake of two major events. The brutal murder of a Jordanian fighter pilot by the Islamic State (IS, ISIS, ISIL) has sent another shock through the international community. As a result, the United Arab Emirates has withdrawn […]

IS No Longer Reliant on Oil Income

By Patrick Schmidt. The United States Department of Defense announced this week that the Islamic State (IS, ISIS, ISIL) no longer receives the majority of income from oil sales. Officials now believe that the group is funded mainly through private donations as well as black market sales. Additional pressure has mounted against the Islamic State […]

Tawke Oil Field Drives DNO Growth

By John Lee. Norwegian oil and gas operator DNO reported record oil and gas output in 2014, but the results were impacted by one-off impairment charges in the fourth quarter driven in part by the drop in global oil prices. Gross output was up 66 percent last year to 117,482 barrels of oil equivalent per […]

Mladenov to be New UN Mideast Envoy

By John Lee. The UN Security Council has reportedly approved the appointment of Nikolay Mladenov as the United Nations' top Middle East envoy, replacing Dutch diplomat Robert Serry. Mladenov, aged 42, has been the UN envoy in Iraq since August 2013, and has previously served as Bulgarian foreign and defense minister. No replacement for Mladenov […]

Baghdad Curfew to be Lifted

By John Lee. Iraq is to permanently lift a decade-old curfew on Baghdad. Brigadier General Saad Maan, the spokesman for the Baghdad Operation Brigade, told the AFP news agency that Prime Minister al-Abadi ordered that the curfew be completely lifted from this Saturday. According to a report from Al Jazeera, the hours it has been […]

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Extremists Ransack Mosul Libraries

The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) voiced alarm today over the reported destruction of thousands of books in museums, libraries and universities across Mosul – the northern Iraq city currently controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). According to the UN agency, the books – […]

Budget Deficit Scuppers Gulf Cup Plans

By John Lee. Kuwait will host the 23rd soccer Gulf Cup in early 2016, after Iraq declined to host the tournament due to a deficit in the State budget. According to Arab News, Iraq will instead bid to host the 24th edition of the Cup. Iraq had been due to host the event in Basra. […]

Sunni Ministers Oppose Debaathification Bill

By John Lee. A move in cabinet to reform Iraq's controversial debaathification law has been opposed by Sunni ministers. Current laws prevent former Baath Party members from participating in Iraq’s government and public service. The Sunni ministers said the reforms do not go far enough, while the rest of the cabinet approved them. The reforms […]

IS Exports 100 Tankers of Oil Daily

By John Lee. The Islamic State (IS, ISIS, ISIL) is reported to be exports 100 tankers of crude oil every day from the Hamrin oil fields in southern Kirkuk. The US has previously warned that IS is using oil as a major source of funds. An Iraqi army officer, who declined to be identified, told […]

Iraq buys Thai Rice

By John Lee. Iraq has bought about 80,000 tonnes of rice from Thailand. Reuters reports that the deal was agreed at a price of of $443.90 per tonne, including cost, insurance and freight free out (CIFFO). (Source: Reuters) (Rice image via Shutterstock)