Iraq Business News brings you the latest information on developments and opportunities in the oil and gas industry in Iraq.
By John Lee. The Minister for Oil Abdul Kareem Luaibi [Elaibi] has received the Sudanese Minister of Oil, Mr. Makkawi M. Awadh, and his delegation in his office in Baghdad. Following the meeting, Mr. Luaibi said: "We discussed [how] to supply Sudan with crude oil, as well as the possibility to participate in building a […]
By John Lee. French oil giant Total is reported to be considering building a "world-scale" petrochemical complex in Iraq. AFP reports that Patrick Pouyanne, the head of Total's refining and chemicals division, said he signed a preliminary accord with Iraq's industry ministry in November to examine the feasibility of the complex in Basra. "They are […]
This article was originally published by Niqash. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Baghdad's Financial Blockade: Iraqi Kurdistan Talks Independence While Locals Strike Conflict between Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdistan over oil exports has resulted in something of a financial crisis in the northern region. […]
By John Lee. The Iraqi government has allocated $4.7 billion to build power plants and finance existing electricity projects this year. Electricity ministry spokesperson Masaab Al-Mudarris told Zawya: "As part of its 2014 plan, the Ministry of Electricity requested a budget of $12 billion to complete existing projects and to sign new contracts to compensate for […]
By John Lee. Following remarks by Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Hussein al-Shahristani (pictured) that Kurdish Regional Government oil exports will go through the State Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) officials from the KRG have moved to clarify that this is not in fact the case. KRG spokesman Safeen Dizayee remarked to reporters that while discussions […]
By John Lee. Angola's Sonangol has decided to abandon its Qayara and Najmah oilfields in Nineveh province due to security problems. Reuters reports that Anabela Fonseca, Sonangol board member in charge of international investments, told a news conference: "Our presence in Iraq was as an operator in an area with much conflict. Last year we […]
By John Lee. Iraqi oil minister Abdul Kareem al-Luaibi (pictured) has moved to reassure major IOCs in the wake of growing disgruntlement over bureaucracy. He remarked to reporters that his ministry " is keen to provide all kinds of support and cooperation for all international companies operating in Iraq, including contracting with companies within the oil […]
By John Lee. Tense negotiations between Baghdad and Italy's ENI came to a close just hours before ENI was supposedly going to call time on their Iraq operations, Reuters reports. ENI CEO Paulo Scaroni made his dissatisfaction clear to reporters on Tuesday before the new deal was struck, stating, "If they do not sign the contracts […]
By John Lee. In its final results announcement this morning, Petrofac gave the following update on its operations in Iraq: Maintenance services, Iraq In August 2013, we were awarded a second contract by Gazprom Neft Badra B.V. (Gazprom) on the Badra oil field, situated 160 kilometres southeast of Baghdad. Worth US$95 million over three years, […]
By John Lee. Iraq is now among the biggest spenders in the Middle East when it comes to planned or under-way infrastructure projects, rivalling the expenditure of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, according to the MEED's Gulf Project's Index. Iraq's southern neighbours are spending $1.o5 trillion and $713bn respectively,but Iraq's rising expenditure on energy projects […]
By John Lee. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has spoken at a ceremony to mark the start of construction on Karbala's forthcoming 140,000 bpd refinery, Iraq Directory reports. As part of Iraq's energy strategy to increase refining capacity to 750,000 bpd, the new $6 billion refinery will be constructed by a consortium led by Hyundai Engineering and […]
By John Lee. Baghdad based Iraqi-Kurdish company KAR has won the contract to build Ninewa's planned 90,000 bpd oil refinery. To date, the KAR Group have been working on the Erbil refinery in partnership with the Texas based Ventech Company, in addition to a number of oil, gas and construction projects in Iraq. When complete […]
