Author Archive | Editor

Casualty Figures for July 2014

According to casualty figures released today by UNAMI, a total of at least 1,737 Iraqis were killed and another 1,978 were injured in acts of terrorism and violence in July*. The number of civilians killed was 1,186 (including 106 civilian police), while the number of civilians injured was 1,511 (including 177 civilian police). A further […]

Tags:

Why Islamic State has No Sympathy for Hamas

By Ali Mamouri for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Most of today's Salafist jihadist movements have no interest in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, for the time being regarding it as irrelevant. Instead, their call is to engage in intense, bloody confrontations involving bombings, executions, and […]

Another Kurdish Tanker En Route to USA

By Patrick M Schmidt. While the tanker the United Kalavryta remains outside of American territorial waters by Texas, another tanker carrying “illegal” oil from the Kurdistan region has left for New Jersey. The tanker, Minerva Joy (pictured), left the port of Dortyol in Turkey on Thursday. It has been determined that LydondellBasell purchased two tankers […]

FAA Flight Restriction Announced

By Patrick M Schmidt. Following the Malaysian Airlines MH17 incident in Ukraine, the United States has taken a closer look at events in Iraq in relation to commercial airline safety and security. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced that American commercial aircraft with flight plans over Iraqi airspace must maintain an altitude above 30,000 […]

Afren Shares Slump, "Unauthorised Payments" Investigated

By John Lee. Shares in Afren plc have fallen by more than 30 percent on the London Stock Exchange on Thursday, following the announcement that the Board has temporarily suspended the CEO, Osman Shahenshah (pictured) and the COO, Shahid Ullah, pending the investigation of alleged “unauthorised payments”. The company has operations at the Barda Rash,  […]

Kurdish Oil Tanks Full in Turkey

By Patrick M Schmidt. For over a week, the oil pipeline from Kurdistan to Turkish port facilities has been shut off. Government officials have stated that all the available storage tanks are full of Kurdish oil and remain in holding for when shipment continues. "The flow has stopped. It's been around a week. The tanks […]

Teeling Updates on Petrel Resources

By John Lee. As part of his statement to the AGM of Petrel Resources, Executive Chairman John Teeling made the following comment on the company's operations in Iraq: "Petrel has a 5% full free carry on the interests held by Oryx in the Wasit province of Iraq. "This is held via a 20% shareholding in […]

Online Survey: State of Iraq 2014

It's a well-known fact that Iraq Business News has the best-informed and most influential readers - you! Now we want to hear your opinions about the current state of the country: How easy is it to do business? How is the security situation affecting you? And who do you think will lead it for the […]

Mystery Buyer of Kurdish Oil Revealed

After months of remaining out of public knowledge, the buyer of Kurdish oil in America has been revealed. The chemical firm LyondellBasell purchased two tankers worth of Kurdish oil in May. The shipments totaled nearly 533,000 barrels of oil and at the time did not result in any legal action. Data retrieved from the U.S. […]

$500m Bell Helicopter Order

The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to Iraq for aviation sustainment support, on-the-job maintenance training and maintenance advice and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $500 million (583 Iraqi dinars). The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of […]

LUKOIL Starts Returning Investment on West Qurna-2

A crude carrier chartered by LITASCO (LUKOIL's international marketing and trading arm) arrived today (Wednesday) in South Iraq's port of Basra to receive the first batch of oil as part of the recovery of LUKOIL's costs from phase one (“Early Oil”) of the West Qurna-2 project. The vessel will spend several days in the port […]