Author Archive | Editor

Baghdad Retains Quality of Living Ranking ...

By John Lee. Baghdad retains its position as the city with the world’s worst quality of living, according to the Mercer 2012 Quality of Living Survey. Vienna retains the top spot; Zurich and Auckland follow in second and third place, respectively, and Munich is in fourth place, followed by Vancouver, which ranked fifth. Düsseldorf dropped […]

US Launches New Support for Civil Society Program in Iraq

The U.S. Embassy, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), celebrated the completion of the USAID nine-year, $740 million Community Action Program, during a transition ceremony in Baghdad on November 27, 2012. From Dohuk to Al Anbar to Basrah, the Community Action Program helped local communities complete 10,000 projects, from schools and water […]

EU Parliament Backs Cooperation Deal with Iraq

By John Lee. The European Parliament's foreign affairs committee on Monday backed a historic deal that establishes the first ever contractual relationship between the EU and Iraq. MEPs recommended that the full House endorse the partnership and cooperation agreement (PCA) but listed concerns over human rights and political failings in Iraq and called for a […]

PM Barzani's Speech at CWC Oil and Gas Conference

Speech by KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani to the CWC Kurdistan-Iraq Oil and Gas Conference Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentleman, welcome to Erbil. Welcome to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. I am happy to participate with you all today, to listen, to learn about, to discuss and debate the vital issues surrounding the oil […]

Asiacell to go Public in Early 2013

By John Lee. The Iraq Stock Exchange says that Iraqi telecom operator Asiacell will start publicly trading its shares as of 3rd February. Associated Press also report that it will be the first stock float since the reign of Saddam Hussein. An Initial Public Offering (IPO) of 25 percent of the company's shares will take […]

Eni Confirms Commitment to Iraq

By John Lee. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki and Eni’s CEO Paolo Scaroni (pictured) met today in Baghdad to discuss Eni’s activities in the Country. During the meeting, which the company described as "cordial", Eni’s CEO updated the Prime Minister on the development activities of Zubair’s super giant field and confirmed Eni’s commitment and presence […]

Kurdish Oil Exports "Halve"

By John Lee. Reuters reports that oil exports from Iraqi Kurdistan have halved to around 100,000 bpd in recent days. An Iraqi oil official said on Monday that the Kurdistan Regional Government had told Baghdad's State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) that exports were reduced because operators were "facing some technical problems that will take some […]

Sri Lanka to Buy Iraqi Oil after US Sanctions on Iran

By John Lee. Sri Lanka is to purchase oil from Iraq after the US imposed new sanctions on Iran. According to a report from AFP, the US Senate unanimously approved new economic sanctions on Friday aimed at further crippling Iran's energy, shipping and port sectors, a year after Congress passed tough restrictions against Tehran. Sri […]

TAQA Buys into Atrush Block

By John Lee. General Exploration Partners (GEP) has signed a purchase and sale agreement to sell 53.2% of its participating interest in the Atrush Block to Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (“TAQA”). In conjunction with the sale, Aspect Energy International, LLC will divest itself of any interest in GEP, leaving ShaMaran Ventures B.V. (a […]

Tawke Export Payment Received by DNO

By John Lee. DNO International was advised by the Kurdistan Regional Government that a payment of USD 160 million was transferred last night for distribution to the foreign members of the Tawke joint venture in partial payment for past oil exports of oil from the Tawke field in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. DNO's share […]

Iraq Stock Market Report

Advertising Feature Rabee Securities Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) market report (week ending: 29th November 2012). Please click here to download a table of listed companies and their associated ticker codes. ID1,608 / $1,740  (+5.6%) (weekly change). The number of week traded shares was 19.7bn and the weekly trading volume was ID23.5bn ($19.6mn). ISX Company Announcements […]

New Election Officials: "Lots Of People Question Our Abilities"

By Mustafa Habib. 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 September the new members of the much debated Independent High Electoral Commission were finally elected. Some say they’re not up to the job. But their […]