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Broadway Malyan Completes Masterplan for $10bn Sadr City

International architecture, urbanism and design practice Broadway Malyan has delivered the concept masterplan for the ‘10×10’ project in Iraq, involving a 17km² extension of Sadr City, Baghdad, and the creation of New Sadr City. The practice’s masterplan is a major milestone in the realisation of the project, named 10×10 because of its predicted $10 billion […]

WesternZagros Amends Production Sharing Contract in Kurdistan

WesternZagros Resources has announced that it has finalized an agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq ("KRG") and Talisman (Block K44) B.V. ("Talisman") to amend the original Production Sharing Contract ("Original PSC") that governed the Company's exploration activities in the Kalar-Bawanoor Block in Kurdistan. The agreement divides the contract area of the Original PSC […]

Ramadan Agreement: Some Answers but Uncertainties Linger

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. […]

New State University Opens in Kurdistan

AKnews report that a new state-run university was officially opened in Halabja yesterday, 81 km southeast of Sulaimaniya. Speaking at a press conference, university director Khasraw Abdullah told reporters that the institute’s single college - offering courses in Islamic sciences, languages and sports - had been up and running for six months already before yesterday’s […]

Total CEO Faces Trial over Oil-for-Food

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 […]

Iraqi Politics and Implications for Oil and Energy

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 […]

Iraq Contractor 'Marked up Prices by 12,000%'

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 […]

Iraq's Second-Largest Lake 'Dry in 2 years'

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, […]

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Iraqi Government is Downsized

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. […]

US Announces Iraq Museum Fellowship Residencies Program

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 […]

Iraq Economic Overview

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 […]

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