In a bid to encourage firms to develop a presence in the Middle Eastern state of Iraq, Upper Quartile, in partnership with Aberdeen City Council’s International Trade and Investment team, held a seminar yesterday in Aberdeen, attracting representatives from around 20 oil and gas service companies interested in the investment opportunities available in Iraq. Over […]
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has announced that it is boosting its partnership with the Government of Iraq and the Iraqi people. "We have tripled the number of our staff based in Iraq to 44 with further increases planned in the next year. Each and every one of them is committed to improving the […]
A large oil rig has arrived in the northern oil fields around Kirkuk to start work on reclaiming old oil wells and drilling new ones, according to AKnews. The wells of the Hamrin mountains were left unused until June this year. The Iraqi Drilling Company announced the arrival of the rig on Thursday, and its […]
Work has reportedly stopped at Iraq's Petrochemical Industries Company due to a shortage of natural gas. According to Aswat al-Iraq, the stoppage has caused significant financial losses. The Iraqi ministry of industry said that the company is the base for chemical industry in Iraq. The undersecretary to the Industry ministry, Maki al-Dairi, called upon Iraqi […]
Emirates Airlines touched down in Baghdad on Sunday, marking its first flight to the capital city of Iraq. Amongst the passengers onboard the inaugural was Ahmed Khoory, Emirates’ Senior Vice President Commercial Operations, Gulf, Middle East and Iran with his special guests Sheikh Jumaa Al Maktoum, Chairman SJM Group of Companies, Salah Al Ansari, Director […]
Azzaman news agency reports that Iraq's Ministry of Electricity has struck a deal with Siemens for the construction of three electrical transformer stations. The deal, said to be worth $76 million, is the latest in a series of contracts by the ministry to upgrade the national grid and increase the supply of electricity, which is […]
Iraq may participate in the planned new gas pipeline between Azerbaijan and Turkey, according to TrendAz. An adviser to the Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Ministry told the Kurdistan Oil & Gas Conference, "Iraq's participation in this project as a gas producing country is important for us". He said the world has a growing demand […]
The Iraqi state-run Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) has recovered around $400 million of a $900 million default on loans handed out with little or no security by the previous management, the bank's new chief has said. Former TBI president Hussein al-Uzri fled Iraq in early June after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered a judicial […]
The Financial Times reports on Thursday that Shell has pulled out of oil-development talks with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in an effort to protect lucrative investments in southern Iraq,. The newspaper cited people familiar with the discussions as saying Baghdad is seeking to impose a de facto ban on companies operating in Kurdistan. Following […]
In the continuing row over ExxonMobil's contract with the Kurdistan Regional Government, Baghdad has called the deal a violation of the law. Reuters reports that Iraq's government said it would move to end a major contract with ExxonMobil, apparently referring to the company's multi-billion dollar contract with Iraq's oil ministry to develop the 8.7 billion […]
AFP reports that the Iraqi cabinet has approved a $540 million contract for French firm Alstom to build a 182.4 megawatt gas power plant in central Iraq. Ggovernment spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement that the plant, which should be up and running 18 months after the signature of the contract, is to be […]
The following article was published by Reidar Visser, an historian of Iraq educated at the University of Oxford and currently based at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. It is reproduced here with the author’s permission. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. […]
