The UN has approved the release of another US$1bn from the reparations fund that compensates Kuwaiti businesses, government bodies and international organisations for losses due to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Iraq has now repaid more than $33bn of its $52bn due in damages claims. The $1bn comes from a 5% cut of Iraqi oil […]
Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki and his Kuwaiti counterpart, Naser al-Subah, have been talking directly by telephone to try to prevent a diplomatic crisis from worsening. A spokesperson for Maliki said on Monday that Kuwait had shown "more flexibility" in ongoing discussions over a new Kuwaiti port. Mubarak Port, due to be completed in 2016, […]
Afren has announced the acquisition of interests in two contiguous Production Sharing Contracts ("PSCs") located in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The Company has agreed to acquire an operated 60 per cent. participating interest in the Barda Rash PSC from Komet Group S.A. ("Komet") and a non-operated 20 per cent. participating interest in the Ain […]
Petroceltic International, the Irish-based AIM and ESM listed oil and gas exploration and production company focused on North Africa, the Middle East and the Mediterranean, has announced that, in partnership with Hess Middle East New Ventures, a subsidiary of Hess Corporation, it has executed two Production Sharing Contracts ("PSCs") with the Kurdistan Regional Government of […]
ShaMaran Petroleum has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary ShaMaran Petroleum BV (“ShaMaran BV”) has exercised its option under an Option Agreement signed in July 2009 with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), to enter into a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) in respect of the Taza Block (formerly Block K42) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, […]
By David Rosenberg, for The Media Line. Reproduced with permission by Iraq Business News. It was just another day in Iraq on July 15. In the city of Kerbaba; two car bombs killed a total of seven people and wounded 19. An American solider was killed in Baghdad while in another part of the capital […]
The following article was published in the latest edition of Inside Iraqi Politics, and it is reproduced here with the publisher’s permission. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Full Text of Inside Iraqi Politics Issue No. 19 (PDF) The government’s aggressive energy […]
On Wednesday 7th September, the Middle East Association will be holding a Business Briefing on ‘The Future of Renewables in the Middle East and North Africa’ at Bury House, the third event of our Energy Series. This briefing will give expert analysis on the opportunities, risks and challenges of this important emerging energy sector, as […]
Despite news of increasing security problems, Iraq has attracted as much new investment (in terms of deals announced) in the first half of this year as it did in all of 2010. And the raw figures are impressive; according to Dunia Frontier Consultants, $42 billion was attracted to Iraq last year, with $45 billion announced […]
Iraq needs to boost its 2012 investment budget to as much as 60 trillion dinars ($51 billion) from a planned 40 trillion dinars, to allow funds for new projects, the Planning Minister, Ali al-Shukri (pictured), told Reuters in an interview on Monday. "What is being put forth is 40 trillion Iraqi dinars (as the investment […]
By By Mu Chunshan. Originally published in The Diplomat, and re-produced with permission by Iraq Business News. The visit by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to China didn’t just fail to grab much international media attention – there was also little coverage in the Chinese media, too. Most Chinese associate Iraq with Saddam Hussein and […]
Bandits, border guards and big profits NIQASH’s correspondent follows the illegal nicotine trail, as he joins local smugglers taking cigarettes into Syria. Dodging border guards and bandits, he meets the locals risking their lives to deliver millions of profitable packs to smokers every day. Several days ago, two soldiers and a member of the public […]
