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€114m Write-Off Expected at Petroceltic

By John Lee. Analysts expect Dublin-based Petroceltic International to incur a write-off of just under €114 million ($125 million; 146 billion Iraqi dinars) as a result of abandoning its operations in Iraqi Kurdistan. According to a report from the Irish Independent, it is also expected to take a cash cost hit of about €6.4 million ($7 […]

PM Barzani: Shiite Militias should be Regulated

By Amberin Zaman for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. As the battle grinds on against the Islamic State — also known as IS, ISIL and Daesh — there is growing concern about the mounting influence of Iran and Shiite militias known […]

Hess, Petroceltic Abandon Dinarta Licence

By John Lee. Irish-based Petroceltic International has announced that it and its partner Hess will abandon their Dinarta licence in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The company told the stock market: "As previously announced on 15 January, drilling operations on the Shireen-1 exploration well in the Dinarta licence (Hess ... (Operator) 64%, Petroceltic 16%, and […]

Beechcraft Wins $27m Iraq Order

By John Lee. Beechcraft Defense has been awarded a $27,048,576 (31 billion Iraqi dinar) firm-fixed-price contract to sell the Iraqi military one King Air 350 extended range aircraft modified with intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capability; one Scorpion ground station and one complete spare Scorpion ground station. Work will be performed at Wichita, Kansas, and San […]

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NYNEX Extends Broadband Coverage

NYNEX satellite OHG, a leading VSAT systems operator and integrator, has grown its capacity contract with Avanti Communications to extend satellite broadband coverage across Iraq and Syria. Following the successful deployment to Afghanistan and Libya over the last two years via Avanti’s HYLAS 2 satellite, the latest contract extension will enable NYNEX to target professional […]

Iraq Leads World in Porn Websites

By John Lee. A study by online traffic analysts has found that Iraq hosts the world's highest percentage of pornographic websites. Joint research by Similarweb and The Next Web shows that around 11 percent of sites in the country are X-rated, with Egypt coming in second place with 9 percent, followed by Serbia and Japan […]

FM al-Jaafari Meets Syrian President al-Assad

By John Lee. During an official visit to Syria on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Dr. Ibrahim Al Jaafari met Syrian President, Bashar Al Assad, and Foreign Minister, Walid Al Muallem. Minister Jaafari stressed in a joint press conference with his Syrian counterpart that the visit is part of Iraq's diplomatic endeavor to communicate with all world […]

LUKoil Confirms Commitment to Iraq

By John Lee. LUKoil President Vagit Alekperov had a meeting with Iraq’s Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, and the country’s Minister of Oil, Adel Abdul Mahdi, in Baghdad on March 22. The discussion focused on progress in the development of West Qurna-2 and the future of the field development. “Our company sticks to its plans to […]

Gazprom Neft to Conduct Seismic Survey

Gazprom Neft is to conduct a 2D seismic survey on the south-eastern section of the Halabja block. The technical equipment and personnel required for the survey are currently being transferred from the south-western section, where the company has already successfully completed a survey spanning 225 linear km. 2D seismic surveys covering approximately 870 linear km […]

Germania Suspends Erbil Flights

By John Lee. Germania has suspended air services to Erbil, which has come under increasing threat from Islamic State (IS, ISIS, ISIL) terrorists. Germany's Federal Ministry for Transport (Bundesministerium für Verkehr und digitale Infrastruktur - BMVI) has prohibited all flights by German airlines to Erbil until 30th March 2015 (inclusive). Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Emirates, Etihad […]

PM al-Abadi to Visit US

By John Lee. President Obama will host Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi at the White House on Tuesday, April 14. According to a statement from the United States' Embassy in Baghdad, the Prime Minister’s visit underscores the strategic partnership between the United States and Iraq and the strong U.S. commitment to political and military cooperation […]