Custom Search

The last in a convoy of American armoured vehicles rolled across the border into Kuwait on the chilly morning of December 18, 2011, marking the completion of the US withdrawal from Iraq.

One year later, many Iraqis still lack basic services such as consistent electricity and clean water, and though levels of violence are down, insurgents continue to carry out bombings and shootings almost every day.

(Source: AFP)

By John Lee.

South Korea's STX Heavy Industries has said it has won a $150-million order to construct and operate a power plant in Amara, in Missan province.

Under the turnkey contract signed with Iraq's Ministry of Electricity, STX will take responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the plant for a year after its completion.

It will be equipped with four 125-megawatt gas turbines, and is to be completed by June 2014.

A 200-MW, diesel-fueled station to the north of Amara was also built by STX and opened in June.

Reuters reports that in July STX won a $195-million contract from a consortium led by Italian energy company ENI to build an oil and gas processing plant in Basra.

(Source: Reuters)

By John Lee.

KBR has announced that it has been awarded the Mansuriya Full Field Development contract to perform front end engineering and design (FEED) studies and Quality Control Support Services (QCSS) for the Turkish Petroleum Overseas Company (TPOC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO), in Diyala Province.

The Mansuriya project is expected to help alleviate current problems with intermittent electricity experienced in Iraq by supplying fuel to power stations and feedstock for industrial plants.

KBR will perform FEED studies and QCSS during the EPC phase for the field’s production and export systems, which systems extend from immediately downstream of the well up to and including the road-loading gantries at the liquefied petroleum gas storage and loading facility and sulphur bagging and storage.

The FEED study and QCSS are designed to help TPOC start the first gas production in mid-2015 and help raise the Mansuriya field raw gas production to receive a plateau level of approximately 320 MMscf/d net dry gas by mid-2017, which is expected to be maintained for an estimated period of 13 years.

Services for the project will be based out of KBR’s offices in London and Jakarta. KBR’s Baghdad office will play a role in supporting local employee content for the project. The project is expected to be completed in 2017.

Khaled Abu-Nasrah (pictured), President, Middle East Region, commented:

"The Mansuriya project builds upon KBR’s long-standing commitment to serve Iraq and further solidifies our position as a premier contractor in the Middle East

"KBR brings the experience and expertise of working in logistically challenging areas like Diyala, so we are able to successfully navigate issues to help TPOC meet its first gas date. I am confident that KBR’s successful execution of this project will position us for additional services in Iraq and throughout the region."

Mansuriya participating interests are: TPAO (operator –37.5%), Oil Exploration Company (25%), Kuwait Energy (22.5%) and Korea Gas Corporation (15%).

(Source: KBR)

By John Lee.

Syscom 18, the Romanian company specialising in industrial automation and measuring systems, has won a contract worth three million euros in Iraq.

The project involves the "design, construction, installation, electrical and automation side and starting operations of 40 fiscal metering systems", to be integrated into two power plants; project completion is scheduled for the second half of 2013.

Ion Andronache, President of Syscom 18, commented:

"The fast development pace of the oil and gas segment in the region, but also our previous work experience in other countries in the Middle East, helped us win this project.

"Given that the regional markets continued to have a high economic potential, their financial and energy resources remained at important parameters and the Middle East further needs equipment of industrial measurement and control for oil exploitation.

"Six years ago still, we decided to orient a significant part of our business efforts to the external market and we did well. This year, about 25 percent of our revenue structure comes from international projects."

He continued:

"Iraq is for us a region of great interest. There are currently some serious opportunities for foreign companies wishing to implement projects in the Iraqi energy field. Their national development plans aim to satisfy, through the large projects of providing electricity, population's increasing energy demands.

"So that power plants will be built, imports of electricity will increase, infrastructure is to be constructed. In other words, large investments into projects are expected, and experienced foreign companies in the field will also have access, those capable to implement short or long-term projects.

"Beyond the construction and operation of the power systems and units, opportunities will arise for the training of Iraqi engineers, managers and other staff in the energy sector."

(Source: ACT Media)

By Abdul-Khaleq Dosky.

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.

or years the village of Bava has gone without electricity. But now a local handicapped man has built a water generator in a nearby river and inadvertently started a campaign for more green hydropower in Iraq.

The tiny village of Bava, right in the middle of Iraq’s northern Dohuk province, hasn’t had any electricity supply for years. And little did locals think that the Khabur River, which flows right alongside their homes and which supplies them with water and fish, would ever be the source of power for them. But that is exactly what has happened.

A 40-year-old local, handicapped man, Khaled Hussein, has managed to build a water pressure engine that utilises the river’s flow to generate electricity for the entire village, which – admittedly - is made up of only about eight homes. Still locals say it’s a great example of local ingenuity solving what is a national problem. All the other generators they know of are fuelled by gasoline.

And Hussein’s ingenuity means that unlike in the rest of Iraq, which is plagued by regular power cuts, this relatively remote village has power almost all the time.

“I always wanted to invent an engine that operated without fuel or oil,” Hussein told NIQASH. “I had this idea since I was young and now it’s become a reality.”

By John Lee.

A spokesperson for Iraq's Electricity Ministry, Musaib al-Mudarisi, says the newly constructed power plant in Babel is now fully operational, adding 250 megawatts of power to the national grid.

The plant comprises two generating units, each with 125 megawatts, and has already been linked to the national grid.

The plant was inaugurated by Prime Minister Noori al-Maliki who in his opening remarks noted that “Iraq ... will have surplus power.” The ministry has promised to put an end to power cuts by the end of 2013 at the latest.

(Source: Azzaman)

By John Lee.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has inaugurated the new Hilla gas-powered electricity station in Babil province.

Ministry of Electricity spokesman Musab Al-Mudarris said that the station's total power is 250 MW, using two 125-MW GE generators.

The project was carried out by the Al-Hurra International company at a cost of $84 million, under the supervision of the Ministry of Electricity.

The opening ceremony was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs Hussain al-Shahristani and Electricity Minister Karim Aftan [Karrem Aftan al-Jumali].

The following is the text of a speech to be delivered this morning by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is addressing the Iraq Britain Business Council’s 4th London Conference on the theme: "Iraq: The Road To Success?"

This conference I know is one of several taking place that highlight the economic opportunity Iraq presents for the future, for Britain but also for investors from all over the world. Today, in particular, is a follow on from the IBBC Baghdad conference at the end of September.

The challenges that Iraq still faces are obvious: continuing security problems of terrorism, especially around Baghdad; services and infrastructure still far below what they can and should be; and bureaucracy and corruption in Iraq as elsewhere, a major source of discontent, And of course the political tensions remain high and often lead to paralysis when the country urgently needs movement. There is also the turmoil in the region not least in Syria. So the difficulties are manifest.

But this series of conferences is happening for a reason. There has also been progress. It is important not to exaggerate it; equally important not to ignore it. The economy of 2012 in Iraq is several times the size of ten years ago. Growth this year will be 9% and Iraq is set to be one of the fastest growing economies in the world over the next decade. A Government worker is paid now, on average around 4 times what he was ten years ago in real terms. Oil revenue now stands at $100 billion per annum and is set to treble by 2020. Last month Iraq surpassed Iran as exporter of oil. Iraq’s Central Bank now has the biggest reserves in its history. Baghdad stock exchange – with over 80 companies listed – will be joined by Basrah in due course. Basrah itself as its Governor recently remarked, is set for major change over the next few years. Three new satellite towns of 100,000 homes each; 60 projects for electricity under way to treble power production; and a doubling of the schools and universities. Contracts are also being drawn up for tenders for new roads, bridges and railways. The port and airport are on their feet and growing in business and trade. This is partly funded through the oil revenue now retained by Basra for its own use.

The Iraqi Council of Ministers has approved a draft budget of 138 trillion dinars ($115 billion) for 2013, an 18 percent increase on this year’s spending programme.

The figures are based on expected average oil prices of $90 per barrel, and exports of 2.9 million barrels of oil per day, of which 250 thousand bpd are planned from the Kurdistan region, Ali Al Dabbagh said in a statement.

Forty percent of the proposed budget is allocated for capital investments, with the rest set for the payment of salaries and other government operations.

The main priorities of the spending programme are electricity and security, which account for 21 percent and 14 percent of the proposed budget respectively.

(Sources: NINA, AFP, Dow Jones)

Deputy Premier for Energy Affairs Hussein al-Shahristani (pictured) has opened a new 250-MW, gas-fired power station in Karbala.

Sharistani said that the government is working on electricity generating stations in Babel, Karbala and Anbar provinces, while another 250-MW station will be opened in Hilla in the coming days.

Iraq recently announced that it also plans to invest up to $1.6 billion on renewable energy over the next three years.

(Source: Aswat al-Iraq)