Archive | 2020

The PMU Is Getting More Aggressive in Iraq

By Seth J. Frantzman, for Foreign Policy. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The PMU Is Getting More Aggressive in Iraq In January, Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of Iraq's largest political party, traveled to Iran's holy city of Qom to meet […]

Market Review: "Iraq, Oil Prices and the Coronavirus"

By Ahmed Tabaqchali, CIO of Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) Iraq Fund. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. "The herd instinct among forecasters makes sheep look like independent thinkers" -- Edgar Fielder The crash in oil prices, brought on by the oil price […]

NATO Enhances Training Mission in Iraq

By John Lee. The coronavirus pandemic dominated a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels last week, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. "We addressed a number of issues, including our missions in Afghanistan and Iraq and our support for Georgia and Ukraine, but our response to the COVID-19 was at the top of our agenda," […]

Iraq Produces COVID-19 Laboratory Supplies

Iraq produces COVID-19 laboratory supplies to more rapidly test cases In cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO), the COVID-19 Crisis Cell of Basrah University in southern Iraq has successfully produced urgently needed laboratory supplies to speed up testing of suspected cases. The global demand on supplies and equipment to fight COVID-19 has created a […]

Rocket Attack Targets Halliburton in Basra

By John Lee. At least three rockets are reported to have hit near Halliburton's site in the Burjesia area of Basra early on Monday morning. It is understood that the incident caused no casualties or damage. It is the first attack to target US energy interests in Iraq in recent months. (Sources: S&P Global Platts, […]

IBBC Members Rise to Coronavirus Challenge

By Ashley Goodall. At this challenging time what kind of activities are businesses undertaking in Iraq and how are they doing things differently? In canvassing Iraq Britain Business Council (IBBC) members, we found a consistent pattern of adaptation and response across the membership which can be summarized in three headings: Firstly, taking care of staff […]

Belgium, Netherlands, Sweden give $5m to Iraq COVID-19 Response

Belgium, Netherlands and Sweden commit $5 million to tackle COVID-19 outbreak The governments of Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden have collectively committed US$5 million to support the Government of Iraq's response to the COVID-19 crisis, in partnership with UNDP Iraq. The funds, which were originally pledged under UNDP's Funding Facility for Stabilization to help rehabilitate […]

Japan provides an additional $3.6m for Housing in Iraq

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) welcomes an additional contribution of USD 3.6 million from the Government of Japan to support reconstruction and peacebuilding in Iraq through the rehabilitation of war-damaged houses and construction of low-cost housing units in Sinjar, Ninewa Governorate. Under the new phase of this project, UN-Habitat will improve living conditions […]

Iraq Suspends Reuters over COVID-19 Report

Iraqi regulator suspends Reuters' license for 3 months over COVID-19 report Iraqi authorities should immediately reinstate the license of the Reuters news agency, and allow all media outlets to cover the COVID-19 pandemic freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, the Communications and Media Commission (CMC), Iraq's media regulator, suspended Reuters' license for […]

Soleimani's Successor visits Iraq

By Bryant Harris for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Soleimani's successor visits Iraq, then Trump tweets warning to Iran President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Wednesday to warn Iran against further attacks on US forces in Iraq […]

Oil Production Flat in March, but Revenues Slide

By John Lee. Iraq's Ministry of Oil has announced preliminary oil exports for March of 105,102,927 barrels, giving an average for the month of 3.390 million barrels per day (bpd), essentially the same as the 3.391 million bpd exported in February. These exports from the oilfields in central and southern Iraq amounted to 101,395,907 barrels, […]

Covid-19: Iraq Announces Key Measures

Prime Minister Adil Abd Al-Mahdi on Wednesday chaired a meeting of the Higher Committee for Health and National Safety. The Committee was established to direct and coordinate Iraq's national efforts to combat Covid-19. The Committee agreed a number of measures, including: Exempting all medicines, medical supplies and devices, diagnostic and laboratory equipment from import license regulations […]