A French magistrate has decided to send giant Frence oil company Total and its chief executive to trial on charges that the company engaged in corruption during the United Nations oil-for-food program in Saddam Hussein's Iraq, according to Reuters. The magistrate is sending the company to trial on charges of corruption and involvement in fraudulent […]
While prospects that Iraq could reach its ambitious oil production targets are fading, political instability in a number of oil-producing countries are having adverse effects on OPEC production and spare capacity, according to a new study by the Baker Institute. The report says that the international community is very likely to be reliant on Iraq […]
A United Arab Emirates-based logistics contractor billed Defense Department authorities in Iraq for parts at prices marked up as high as 5,000 percent and 12,000 percent, according to a quarterly report released Saturday by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. GovExec reports that a review of a $119 million reconstruction and logistics contract with […]
Almost 2,000 kilometres in size, Lake Razzaza is Iraq’s second largest lake. But increasing saline levels and decreasing water levels mean that the area is heading for economic, social and environmental disaster. And nobody seems to have any solutions. Once it was a centre for the local fishing industry, a lake teeming with commercial activity, […]
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. […]
The Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau of the U.S. Department of State and the United States Embassy in Baghdad has announced the 2012 Iraq Museum Fellowship Residencies Program. This program has been developed to provide future Iraqi museum professionals with the opportunity to develop and build their capacity in museum management and operation. The residencies […]
Annual inflation in Iraq is now 6.3%, according to government figures. It is likely this is due to rising commodity prices. Government receipts for oil in the last quarter were up 19% to US$20bn, the highest since before the Iraq War began. The dinar was unchanged versus the dollar during the quarter. The International Monetary […]
Iraqi firm al-Faw this week started to build a US$50m housing complex in Iraq's third largest city, Mosul, according to Aknews, at the same time that two more complexes are announced. The Mosul project will create another 100,000 housing units, three schools, a shopping complex and four health centres. It is due to be completed […]
The Middle East Association, supported by the National Investment Commission of Iraq, UK Trade & Investment and Allurentis, is pleased to announce the 2011 Iraq Trade and Investment Conference, “Iraq: Untapped Opportunities”. This conference will take place at London’s Dorchester Hotel on 22nd November. This event will provide a high-level forum for senior representatives from […]
The 2009 contract between BP and the Iraqi government for oil production at the Rumaila oil field has been quietly rewritten in favour of the oil giant, according to Aknews. the Iraqi government will now continue to pay BP when production is affected by civil disruption, disruption in oil transportation, political decisions or OPEC cuts. […]
Iraq has put US$2bn into renewing its industry over the past three years, according to Reuters. In an effort to wean itself from its reliance on oil revenues, the country is giving a boost to some of its 260 factories. "Most of our factories were losers," said Adel Karim, a deputy minister of industry and minerals. "Now […]
Everywhere from Northern Ireland to China have sought bilateral agreements to benefit from the rapid growth of Iraq. Now it is Syria's turn. Mohammed Nidhal, Syria's minister of trade, headed to Iraq with a delegation of more than 100 Syrian businessmen. The two countries pledged to increase trade between them. Khayrullah Babakir, Iraqi minister of trade, said "The […]
