Archive | 2018

Qayara Refinery available for Investment

By John Lee. The Ministry of Oil has announced an opportunity to invest in a 100,000-bpd refinery at the Qayara field in Ninawa governorate. In a statement, the Ministry said: The execution is according to the methods of BOOT or BOO and according to the investment law of the refineries No.64 for the year 2007 […]

CEO Jailed for Fraud

The owner and chief executive officer of an armored vehicle company was sentenced today to 70 months in prison for his role in orchestrating a scheme to defraud the United States by providing the U.S. Department of Defense with armored gun trucks that did not meet ballistic and blast protection requirements set out in the […]

Iran to process Russian Wheat for Iraqi Flour Market

By John Lee. Iran is said to be negotiating a deal to import around 100,000 tonnes of wheat per month from Russia, enabling private millers it to increase flour exports to Iraq. Iraq imports about 3 million tons of flour a year, almost half of its demand of 6.9 million tons a year. According to […]

Pentagon Stops Budgeting for Peshmerga Salaries

By Jack Detsch for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The Trump administration’s budget proposal for next fiscal year does not include peshmerga salaries even as the Pentagon aims to continue training the Kurdish force. The Department of Defense had requested $365 million in stipends […]

UNDP Iraq Launches Trilingual App

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Iraq launched a trilingual mobile application for iOS and Android to become the first ever UNDP Country Office to have such an application and one of a few within the UN community worldwide. UNDP Iraq’s Communications Unit led the development process of this application with support on information […]

Chevron Resumes Drilling in Kurdistan

By John Lee. Chevron has reportedly announced that it had resumed drilling operations at the Sarta-3 well in Iraqi Kurdistan. The US company temporarily suspended operations in October following the controversial independence referendum, which increased tensions between Baghdad and Erbil. According to Kurdistan 24, it currently operates and holds an 80-percent contractor interest in two […]

Abadi says Laws will Protect Foreign Investors

By John Lee. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has promised to crack down on corruption, and says laws will protect nervous foreign investors. He told CNBC: "We are laying down all the legal framework ... I think the worry is corruption, number one, which is hiding behind red tape and bureaucracy. We have established a higher […]

Baghdad keen to Restart Oil Exports through Turkey

By John Lee. Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi [Allibi, Luiebi] is to visit Turkey this week to discuss expanding cooperation in the oil and energy sector. Among the topics for discussion will be the possible restarting of oil exports via the Turkish port of Ceyhan (pictured), and the export the Iraqi oil “by SOMO company […]

Kirkuk Council reportedly files Oil case against Iraq Govt

Kirkuk Governorate Council has reportedly filed a complaint at the Iraqi Supreme Court against the federal government for taking unilateral steps on the governorate's oil. A press report on February 19 cited three moves that it said Baghdad has taken without consultation with local government: An agreement with British Petroleum (BP) to develop Kirkuk oil […]

Iraq Delegation to Visit Turkey over Water Dispute

By John Lee. An Iraqi government delegation is planning to visit Turkey to discuss environmental concerns over Turkey’s Ilisu Dam on the Tigris River. Iraqi Water Resources Minister Hassan al-Janabi (pictured) recently commented: “All regions of Iraq face the danger of water scarcity.” The amount of water in key Iraqi rivers has reportedly fallen by […]

Natural Gas Must Be an Asset for Iraq

By Alessandro Bacci. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. On February 27-28, 2018, the C.W.C. Group, an energy and infrastructure conference, exhibition and training company, will organize in Berlin, Germany, the twelfth edition of Iraq Petroleum, which is one of the major […]

Price of Iranian Goods Falls 30% in Iraqi Kurdistan

By John Lee. A sharp fall in the value of the Iranian rial has reportedly reduced the price of Iranian goods in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq by 30 percent, boosting demand. According to Rudaw, trade between the Kurdistan Region and Iran amounted to $6 billion in 2016, falling to around $5.05 billion in 2017. […]