Global oil prices below $90 a barrel would be “difficult” to accept, Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister for energy, Hussain al-Shahristani, told Reuters on Wednesday. Brent crude oil dipped below $100 a barrel on Tuesday on growing concern about a Greek debt default and the health of the global economy, tumbling from a 2011 peak of $127 […]
Permanent Secretary of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and Head of Her Majesty’s Diplomatic Service, Simon Fraser, visited Baghdad, Basra and Erbil between 3 and 6 October 2011. Simon was accompanied on his visit by Additional Director of the Middle East and North Africa Department at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Jon Davies. Simon […]
Iraq's three mobile operators are unlikely to conduct initial public offerings until the middle of next year and will not be penalised for missing an August 2011 deadline, the country's regulator said on Thursday, according to a report from Reuters. Under the terms of the 15-year, $1.25-billion, operating licences they secured in 2007, Korek, Zain […]
The Colorado Securities Commission has ordered a company promoting speculation in Iraqi dinars, and its director, to stop soliciting investors in Colorado. The commission entered a cease-and-desist order on Thursday against AmIraq Fund LLP, general manager BB&M International Corp, and William Burbank, who serves as CEO and managing director of both companies. The order prohibits them […]
By Rickie Cole of SGS, in response to our Iraq Business News article on importation inspection: On 1st May 2011, the Central Organisation of Standardisation and Quality Control (COSQC) in Iraq implemented the Pre-Importation Inspection, Testing & Certification of Goods to Iraq (ICIGI) programme. This programme is designed to monitor the quality of regulated goods […]
The State Company for Oil Projects (SCOP), part of the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, has awarded the French-based Axens, a fully-owned subsidiary of IFP Energies nouvelles, the Basic Design and License contracts for the construction of the new refinery in Nassiriya, Iraq. Axens will supply the following process technologies for the refinery: H-Oil RC technology […]
Aswat al-Iraq reports that the Iraqi Ministry of Transport has decided to cancel land customs duties from sea ports of entry. The ports media director told the agency that Minister Hadi al-Ameri decided to cancel these customs in order to encourage merchants to transport their goods through Iraqi ports. Ports used to have land duty […]
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari met Swedish Minister of Trade, Dr. Eva Burling, and the accompanying delegation on Tuesday. The Minister welcomed the minister and explained the situation in the new democratic Iraq. The two sides exchange views on ways of developing the Swedish-Iraqi relations for the benefit of both countries, and to promote trade between […]
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. […]
Governments have many responsibilities, but one of the main requirements of government is not to get in the way. If an economy is to grow, the administration must facilitate, or at the very least not hinder, people who are trying to create value, satisfy demand, and serve customers. But the new inspection regime at Iraqi […]
Iraq has awarded a $523 million [612 billion Iraqi dinar] contract to expand oil export facilities in the south of the country to Leighton Offshore, a subsidiary of Australian firm Leighton International, according to AFP. Leighton is the Australian unit of Germany construction group Hochtief. The project must be completed within 16 months and will […]
Heritage Oil has announced that it has completed testing of the oil bearing Upper Cretaceous reservoir in the Miran West-3 well in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq ("Kurdistan"): Maximum flow rate achieved from the Upper Cretaceous reservoir was 1,950 bopd, restricted by surface equipment Confirmed gross in-place P50-P90 contingent volumes of 53-75 MMbbls of oil […]
