By John Cookson. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Checking back through e-mails I am amazed it was only 4 days ago on June 10th I messaged an editor pal of mine that something momentous was happening in Iraq. ISIS had occupied […]
By John Cookson. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. As ISIS prepares to advance on Baghdad and Iraq slips towards civil war, the world's oil corporations are updating plans to evacuate worried staff, from Dohuk in the north to the southern powerhouse […]
The recent offensive by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) -- also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) -- has shown that events sometimes move very rapidly in Iraq. Containing the threat to the rest of Iraq has presented Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki with a new set of […]
By John Cookson. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The exact origin of the proverb "cometh the hour, cometh the man" are unknown, but there can be no doubt the man tasked with saving Iraq from disintegration at this dangerous hour is […]
By John Cookson. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Today's audacious jihadist attack on Mosul by Al Qaeda affiliate ISIS must surely be a massive wake up call in Washington that Iraq needs urgent help. Hundreds of jihadists seized key government offices, […]
If anyone doubts the fact that Iraq is changing, and for the better, just look at the top three headlines in our Newsletter this week: $7.8bn ‘Petrodollars’ Allocated for Development Iraq to Launch Satellite this Month Dubai Proposes Twinning with Erbil Of course there are still challenges to be overcome in the area of security, […]
By Padraig O'Hannelly. While much of the world's media focuses, understandably, on the contest to form the next government, a power struggle of a different kind has come to a head between the central government in Baghdad and the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government in Erbil. In what many regard as a milestone for Kurdish independence, […]
As this week's Newsletter goes to press, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has started the bargaining to form a new government following his success in getting the most seats in the recent elections, albeit falling far short of a majority. A similar process after the last election four years ago took nearly a year to complete, […]
Iraqis went to the polls yesterday in what has been variously described as "an important milestone in Iraq’s democratic transition," (Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon) and "a powerful rebuke to the violent extremists," (US Secretary of State John Kerry). Preliminary results are not expect for a couple of weeks, and as it is generally […]
With Iraq's parliamentary elections scheduled for Wednesday 30th April, this week's newsletter has a special section dedicated to the election and related news. In all, 9,045 candidates will compete to fill 328 seats, and much depends on the outcome. As a cross-section of Iraq's best-informed people, what do you, our readers, forecast as the outcome […]
As reported this morning on Iraq Business News, a former Minister for Planning has spoken out about the need to diversify the Iraqi economy away from its current dependence on oil and gas. Mahdi Al-Hafez told Asharq Al-Awsat that Iraq must adopt "a policy of diversifying the economy and developing other productive sectors such as […]
It is surely significant for global oil supplies that within the past two weeks, two of the largest Iraqi oil fields have started production: Lukoil commenced pumping at West Qurna 2 at the end of March, while Shell exported its first crude from Majnoon this week. As a result, oil production is set to rise […]
