Author Archive | Editor

Update on Bina Bawi Oilfield

By John Lee. Austria's OMV, the operator of the Bina Bawi field in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, has today issued the following press release: An extended well test ("EWT") commenced production from the Bina Bawi-3 well on March 20, 2013. Furthermore the contractor group has submitted a Declaration of Commerciality for the field to […]

Video: Iraqi Christian Leaders Trying to Restore Hope

From Al Jazeera. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. During ten years of violence in Iraq, millions of people have fled the country, many of them are Christians. Now, the new leader of Iraq's largest Christian group is trying to stem the […]

"Plans for ‘Kurdish Empire’ Advance"

By Qassim Khidhir Hamad. This article was originally published by Niqash. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. In an interview with NIQASH, the representative of the Syrian Kurdish party running Kurdish parts of Syria talks about their contingency plan, for after the […]

Time to Blow our Own Trumpet

By John Lee. Iraq Business News is growing. Less than three months ago, the list of subscribers to our free weekly newsletter hit 13,000 -- last week we topped 15,000! To put it another way, every working day forty new readers join the ranks of the best-informed business minds in Iraq. Many of these join on […]

Indonesia Buys June-Dec Basra Light Crude

By John Lee. Indonesia has signed a deal with Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) to buy Basra light crude in the second half of 2013. According to reports from Reuters and Jakarta Globe, Iraq is winning more customers in Asia as it is selling its crude cheaper than comparable grades, undercutting rival Saudi Arabia […]

Iraq Set to Expand Free Trade Zones

By Omar al-Shaher for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraq, with its privileged geographical location, plans to improve the performance of its three free-trade zones. It also intends to establish new free-trade zones as part of efforts to diversify its […]

US, Iraqi Ministry of Health Sign Agreement

The United States Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Iraqi Ministry of Health, outlining U.S. support for the Ministry to strengthen its service delivery and overall management. The agreement is part of the U.S. commitment to support efforts by the Government of Iraq to improve […]

Akkas Attack - KOGAS Sticks to Schedule

By John Lee. The Korean Gas Corporation (KOGAS) said on Wednesday that an attack on its operations at the Akkas gas field in Anbar will not delay its plans to start commercial production in September 2015. A spokesman for the state-run company told Platts: "There was no major damage to the facilities at the field, […]

KRG Clarifies Incident at HKN Energy Block

By John Lee. The Kurdistan Regional Government has denied that an incident involving HKN Energy in the Kurdish region of Iraq was related to security issues, and said it was instead tied to a labour dispute. In a statement, the KRG also denied media reports that about 120 oil workers were held hostage: "The Kurdistan […]

Iraq to Increase Basra Oil Shipments in April

Iraq plans to ship 48 cargoes of Basra Light crude from the Persian Gulf in April, according to a report from Bloomberg -- 13 shipments more than last month. About 68.6 million barrels of the blend is to be exported from the al-Basra Oil Terminal (ABOT) (pictured), equating to 2.29 million barrels a day; this […]

Iraqi Aviation Industry Takes Off

By Omar al-Shaher for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. In light of Iraq’s complicated political and security climate, even the most optimistic could not expect Baghdad International Airport (pictured) to have 125 flights — even including both arrivals and departures […]