Author Archive | Editor

Sunni Fighting Force still Months Away

By Mona Alami for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The United States has led an offensive against the Islamic State (IS, ISIS, ISIL) in Iraq since August. It has been backed on the ground by the Iraqi military with the support […]

DNO Doubles Capacity at Tawke

Norwegian oil and gas operator DNO today announced the doubling of capacity at its flagship Tawke field in the Kurdistan region of Iraq to 200,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd). The 200,000 bopd wellhead, processing and pipeline capacity milestone was reached in less than two years with 10 new horizontal wells and the construction […]

Alliant Techsystems Wins Air Force Contract

By John Lee. Texas-based Alliant Techsystems Inc., has been awarded a $14,173,202 contract for contractor logistic support for the Iraqi Air Force's Cessna 208B fleet. The work will be performed in Iraq and is expected to be complete by 31st December, 2015. (Source: US Dept of Defense) (Picture: Iraqi Air Force Cessna 208)

Iraq Ranks 112th in World Happiness Report

By John Lee. Iraq has ranked 112th out of 158 countries in the latest World Happiness Report. The report, produced by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), contains analysis from leading experts in the fields of economics, neuroscience, national statistics, and describes how measurements of subjective well-being can be used effectively to assess national progress. […]

UNESCO, IJS Work Together for Press Freedom

Celebrating World Press Freedom in Baghdad, UNESCO and the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate (IJS) agreed to strengthen their cooperation to foster freedom of expression, develop the media sector and provide universal access to information and knowledge in Iraq. To this effect, IJS President Moaiyad al-Lami and UNESCO Representative to Iraq Axel Plathe (pictured) signed an agreement […]

Canada Outlines Assistance Programme

By John Lee. The Government of Canada has said it is committed to supporting Iraq in addressing the development challenges that it faces as a result of the barbaric and murderous rampage of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS, ISIL, IS). To this end, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, pictured here on his […]

Collaboration between Soran and Leicester Unis

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, recently received President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leicester, Professor Paul Boyle and the President of Soran University, Dr. Muslih Mustafa. Professor Boyle pointed out the collaboration between Leicester and Soran Universities, stressing that both universities’ have close vision to academic and scientific development, which has been in […]

WesternZagros Operational and Corporate Update

WesternZagros Resources has provided an operational update for its Garmian Block in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and a corporate update. Hasira-1 Well The Hasira-1 well is in the process of being suspended after conducting a cased-hole testing program in the high pressure Mio-Oligocene oil reservoir. During this test the wellbore experienced a considerable influx […]

Move to Private Sector Vital For Progress

The financial losses being made by Iraq’s state owned enterprises are “not acceptable” and the Government is pushing through new legislation to prioritise the growth of the private sector, the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff told a high-level business conference in Baghdad last week. Speaking at the Iraq Britain Business Council (IBBC) event in the […]

Dana Gas Production Up

By John Lee. As part of its Q1 2015 Report, Dana Gas has given the following update on its operations in Iraqi Kurdistan: In the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, the Company saw its quarterly share of production (40%) in the Khor Mor Field marginally increase by 3.7% to 30,400 boepd (Q1 2014: 29,300 boepd) while […]

IWPR Iraq Director Killed in Baghdad

Ammar Al Shahbander, long-standing Chief of Mission in Iraq for the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR), has been killed in a car bomb attack in the busy commercial area of Karrada in Baghdad. It is believed that up to 17 people were killed in twin bomb blasts in the area. Emad al-Sharaa, also […]

Iraqis need to Build State, Not just Defeat IS

By Mustafa al-Kadhimi for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Preparing for the post-Islamic State (IS, ISIS. ISIL) era is not premature — it is a fundamental issue that Iraqis, including the political and cultural elite, have already begun to address. […]