Iraq Business News brings you the latest information on developments and opportunities in the oil and gas industry in Iraq.
South African President Jacob Zuma said there are no legal means to prosecute traders for paying bribes to win Iraqi oil contracts under the United Nations’ oil- for-food program that operated before 2003, according to a report from Bloomberg. Zuma closed an investigation into trader Sandile Majali, citing loopholes in local laws. Majali was named […]
Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani sees no reason for OPEC to reconsider its current production levels at its next meeting, due to be held in Vienna on 14th October. According to report from Reuters, he sees no big demand for crude and says current production levels should be maintained, but OPEC should hold an extraordinary […]
Shell continues to work hard to deliver joint projects with its Iraqi partners, the South Gas Company, and expects a final agreement on the Heads of Agreement (HoA) soon, after the Iraqi cabinet endorsed the project end of June this year. This is according to the architect of the 2008 agreement, Mounir Bouaziz, Shell EP […]
Turkey's Energy and Natural Resources Minister, Taner Yıldız, has said Turkey will renew the agreement with Iraq for the Kirkuk-Yumurtalık crude oil pipeline on Sept. 19. The flow of oil through the pipeline was severely affected by the seven-year US occupation of Iraq. The very limited flow has continued to decrease over the last few […]
Iraq has tightened security around oil infrastructure and oilfields in the south, in response to intelligence suggesting al Qaeda and other insurgent groups plan to attack oil facilities, a security official said. Reuters reports that Ali al-Maliki, head of the municipal security committee in the southern oil hub of Basra, said the information indicated that […]
Reuters reports on Sunday that the cut in Baghdad's allocation of fuel to Iraqi Kurdistan is related to the admission last month that the region is has been exporting petroleum products through Iran. We reported at the weekend that the cut was in response to the new gas agreement between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) […]
Seven years after the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein, Iraq largely has been unable to revamp business laws that would help make the country more attractive to investors, according to a report from Bloomberg. “Investors still note security concerns, but now are more likely to cite regulatory hindrances and other practical barriers to doing business,” […]
Gulf Keystone (LSE: GKP), the Kurdistan-focused oil explorer widely rumoured to be a takeover target, has announced the commencement of drilling operations on its Shaikan-3 appraisal well, effective September 2, 2010. This is a shallow appraisal well, very close to the Shaikan-1 well, the site of last year's discovery of the giant Shaikan oil field. […]
Germany's Siemens is eyeing up electricity investments in Basra. “A delegation from Siemens met today (Sept. 2) with officials of the provincial council’s electricity committee to discuss ways to carry out projects in the power sector in Basra,” Ziyad Ali told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The delegation expressed readiness to carry out power projects in […]
ShaMaran Petroleum (TSX VENTURE:SNM), the Canadian oil company with operations in Iraqi Kurdistan, has announced a new share placing to raise capital. The Vancouver-based company has agreed to sell, on a non-brokered, private placement basis, an aggregate of up to 111.2 million common shares at a price of Cdn $0.45 per share for gross proceeds […]
Baghdad has increased the stakes in the row that has flared up over the new German/Kurdish gas contract. Last week we reported on the dispute relating to KRG's agreement with German energy giant RWE. Now AKnews reports that the Iraqi oil ministry said last week that it will cut Kurdistan’s fuel share in half as […]
The German government has refused to be drawn into the row over RWE's new gas agreement with the Kustdistan Regional Government. The Iraqi oil ministry has said the agreement is illegal because the country's oil and gas are federal resources to be administered centrally. Asked about the dispute, a spokesman for the German economy ministry […]
