Author Archive | Editor

DNO ex-Chairman Tries to Block Merger

DNO International has announced that told investors that Petrolia Invest AS and Erik J. Frydenbø have filed a request for an injunction with the Oslo District Court seeking to block the completion of the merger with RAK Petroleum PCL's MENA operating subsidiaries. Petrolia Invest AS is a subsidiary of Petrolia ASA, a company controlled by […]

Kurdistan Market Briefing and Trade Mission (UK)

The Middle East Association, in partnership with UK Trade & Investment and the Kurdistan Regional Government, will be leading a Trade Delegation to Iraqi Kurdistan in the spring of 2012, visiting Erbil and Sulaymaniyah. Mission Participants will have the opportunity to meet government ministers, senior business leaders, and the local Chambers of Commerce. The Kurdistan […]

Contract Signed for Basra Housing Project

Basra Council has signed the contract for the construction of 12,000 housing units in the Shatt al-Arab district. The local government allocated 1,600 acres to the project, which is expected to be started within the month and completed within two years. It is to be carried out by a UAE-based company named Kika (?). The […]

CEO's Stake in Gulf Keystone Questioned

Todd Kozel, the founder and chief executive officer of Iraq-focussed Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (GKP), said he may have to pay a $6 million fine to U.S. tax authorities because he didn’t declare overseas accounts and trusts. According to the report from Bloomberg, the penalty came to light when his attorneys listed it among his […]

Iraq Buys 400,000 Tons of Wheat

Bloomberg reports that Iraq bought 400,000 metric tons of wheat from Russia, Australia and Canada. The amounts were: 150,000 tons from Canada; 150,000 tons from Russia; and, 100,000 tons from Australia, Hassan Ismail Ibrahim, director general of the Grain Board, told Bloomberg by telephone. The deadline for the tender expired on 4th December. Iraq plans […]

New Iraqi Oil Prices for January

Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) has adjusted its official selling prices for its Basra Light and Kirkuk crude grades for January. In common with some other countries, Iraq’s oil is priced relative to regional benchmark prices: For shipments to US, contracts are priced are relative to the Argus Sour Crude Index (ASCI); Shipments to […]

Alstom Signs €400m Power Contract in Iraq

Patrick Kron, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Alstom, and the Iraqi Vice Minister of Electricity, His Excellency Salam Kazzaz, signed on 11 December, in the presence of His Excellency Karim Aftan El Jumaily, Minister of Electricity, a contract worth approximately €400 million to build the 728 MW Al Mansuriya gas-fired power plant in the […]

The Economics of Federalism in the Iraqi 2012 Draft Budget

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. […]

Video: UN Special Representative on Security in Iraq

Informal comments to the media by Martin Kobler, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, on the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI): (Source: United Nations) For more analysis on the current security situation please see today's report from our Expert Blogger John Drake.

Basra wants Bigger Say, More Autonomy

Officials in Basra are reportedly trying to cancel a $17 billion Shell gas deal because they want a bigger say, highlighting the pressure on central government to ease its control over the provinces. According to the report from Reuters, the province is increasingly restless with the slow pace of development and wants more control over […]