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By John Lee.

Oil Minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi (Allibi) met the President of Russia's Lukoil, Vagit Alkpirov [Alekperov], at the his office on Sunday.

The Minister confirmed plans to develop the production and investment gas this year and next year, at called for Lukoil to participate in new projects to be started next year.

Mr Alekperov said that its existing service contract for West Qurna 2 needs to be amended "to establish conditions for further investments to the project."

(Sources: Ministry of Oil, Lukoil)

Iraq Signs a Joint Convention on Cooperation and Coordination in Issues of Sexual Violence in Conflicts

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Ibrahim Al-Jaafari signed a joint convention concerning cooperation and coordination in sexual violence in conflicts, with the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms Zainab Bangura.

The United States Deputy Secretary of State, delegation of Russian Federation to the United Nations, and the Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Mission to Iraq Mr Ján Kubiš have attended the Signing ceremony.

The convention included starting data documentation and collecting evidence of sexual violence and terrorism crimes committed against all Iraqi components in Iraq.

In a speech he delivered on this occasion in the United Nation, New York, Dr Al-Jaafari said:

"This convention will evolve into a mechanism of work on the ground as it has become an international organisation. And before acquiring this character; there is the genuine Iraqi will. We shall work together to find appropriate environments. We shall remedy the sufferings of women."

"Women must attain their place in all institutions, including: education, health, factors, agriculture, trade and art. As they represent half of the society; they must assume their places in half of the institutions, and this is a normal thing."

His Excellency called upon the international community and donors to enhance national expertise, built capabilities, and spread awareness and education in fields of enabling and improving the rights of women, adding:

"What happened in Iraq is a combined expression that represents the various violations of the terrorist gangs of Da'esh. They have abused women so as to uproot the values from the society; as women are the makers of the future."

"Currently, the situation is better than before. We still have some difficult phases to pass in favour of woman and society. A humanitarian culture was promoted in Iraq, and it has been reflected on the Iraqi parliament which includes 82 female parliamentarians. In the transitional government there were 6 female ministers."

By John Lee.

Major oil companies including BP, Shell and Lukoil are reported to be cutting investment in Iraq.

“You’re going through difficult months,” said Ariel Flores, general manager of the BP-led Rumaila Operating Organization (ROO) told the Wall Street Journal. “You slow down and you make decisions to pause efforts.”

Rumaila oil field now has two rigs drilling for new oil, down from as many as six earlier this year, but the company says it still wants to increase production and can do so more cost-effectively by focusing on wells that already exist. Output is expected to remain at around 1.4 million bpd this year.

Production at Shell's Majnoon oil field has stalled at 200,000 bpd, and although it has plans to double output, the company is just focusing on sustaining production this year.

Russia’s Lukoil said earlier this year that it needed to invest more just to keep production steady at the giant West Qurna-2 oil field. “We’re not ready to proceed to the next phase of development until our negotiations with Iraq lead to some changes in the economics of the contract,” said Pavel Zhdanov, Lukoil’s head of capital markets and M&A, on an investor call last month.

(Source: Wall Street Journal)

The coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has the momentum to end the terror group’s hold in Iraq and Syria, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told the Senate Armed Services Committee today.

Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford also told the panel that he is worried about the joint force and the ability of the force to operate in the future.

The chairman testified alongside Defense Secretary Ash Carter.

The coalition, led by indigenous forces in Iraq and Syria, has made significant progress against ISIL, Dunford said. The coalition has also hit the group in other areas where it has established a foothold -- Libya, Afghanistan and West Africa, the chairman added.

“Coalition operations supporting indigenous ground forces … have disrupted core ISIL’s ability to mount external attacks, reduced its territorial control, limited its freedom of movement, eliminated many of their leaders and reduced the resources that they had available,” Dunford said. “Most importantly, the coalition has begun to discredit ISIL’s narrative and its aura of invincibility.”

More Challenges

While more needs to happen, he said, “it’s clear we have the momentum in the military campaign.”

The chairman backed up testimony from last week by the military chiefs. They spoke about readiness shortfalls in personnel, equipment and in modernization and research funding. “I fully concur with their assessment of the operational tempo and the budget challenges faced by each of the services and across department,” he said.

While the challenges are present, the joint force remains the most capable and professional military in the world, the chairman said. “We can defend the nation, we can meet our alliance responsibilities and today we have a competitive advantage over any adversary,” he added.

By Mustafa Saadoun for Al Monitor. Any views expressed here are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. 

The official website of the League of the Righteous movement (Asaib Ahl al-Haq) reported Aug. 14 a visit by the Italian ambassador to Baghdad, Marco Carnelos, to league Secretary-General Qais al-Khazali. The article stated that Khazali received Carnelos in his office in Baghdad and discussed with him the ongoing preparations for the liberation of the city of Mosul. For his part, Carnelos published a photo of his meeting with Khazali on his embassy Twitter account with the caption “The ambassador acknowledges the significant role of the PMU in fighting IS.”

According to the movement’s website, Carnelos “praised the positions of the Popular Mobilization Units [PMU] and stressed that without the PMU, Iraq would have been in a bad situation.” He emphasized “the unity of the Iraqi territory.”

This is not the first time that Khazali has received an ambassador of an important state. On April 15, he received Russian Ambassador to Baghdad Elijah Morgunov to discuss the latest political developments. However, this was the first official visit paid by a European Union ambassador to a prominent leader of the PMU.

The Iraqi media did not focus on the visit and the points that might have been discussed; it only focused on Carnelos’ tribute to the PMU and the importance of these units taking part in the battle of Mosul. The two parties settled for a brief statement issued by the information league's office.

Italy, which was part of the coalition that overthrew the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in 2003, is now taking part in the protection of the Mosul Dam; it has deployed its troops there as part of efforts by the US-led international coalition to eliminate the Islamic State (IS).

By Simon Kent.

Gazprom Neft, the Russian oil and gas giant, has announced increased production at the Badra field, reaching an aggregate production of 3 million tons in less than two years, according to Sputnik news.

Badra has estimated reserves of over 3 billion barrels, and this year Gazprom added another 3 wells, totaling an additional 30,500 bpd production. More wells are planned next year in the field, which is 25% owned by the Iraqi Drilling and Exploration Company.

(Source: Sputnik)

Russia's Gazprom Neft has commissioned its 10th production well (P-07) at the Badra oil field.

Together with the other wells at the field, the P-07 well is in free-flow production. With production volumes at the newly launched well now at 6,527 barrels per day, its commissioning has allowed daily production levels at the field to reach 67,000 barrels.

Three other wells were also commissioned at the field earlier this year, collectively producing 24,000 barrels per day. Drilling of four further wells — P-10, BD-2, P-14 and P-19 — is currently ongoing, with construction expected to be completed in early 2017.

Construction of oil and gas infrastructure is also ongoing at the Badra field, with construction and installation works for the commissioning of the first line of an associated petroleum gas (APG) treatment facility now 60-percent complete.

A third process line was constructed at the field’s central processing facility in June, allowing the facility’s potential capacity to increase to the projected level of 115,000 barrels per day.

As at July 20 2016, total cumulative production since the commissioning of the Badra field stands at 2.9 million barrels of oil, of which 1.2 million tonnes has been produced since the start of the year.

(Source: Gazprom Neft PJSC)

By John Lee.

Russia's Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) reportly stopped deliveries of armoured vehicles to Iraq due to delayed payments.

TASS, citing UVZ`s 2015 annual report, stated:

"In 2015, the UVZ Corporation stopped the shipping of the defense production to the No.356 customer (Iraq) due to delayed payments."

(Source: Defense World)

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 Maridi market is one of the biggest illegal weapons markets in Iraq. Here civilians and soldiers buy everything from automatic rifles to rocket launchers to fake gun licenses.

In a market in the Baghdad suburb of Sadr City, masked men display their wares on open tables the same way vegetable sellers do in other city markets. But instead of calling out the prices of the goods on show, the men whisper to passers-by so only those closest can hear.

Next to grenades on the tables are rockets, mortars and plenty of other weaponry, with markings that indicate they come from a number of different sources. The men behind the tables wear masks or glasses and hats to hide their faces. Welcome to Maridi market, one of Baghdad’s –if not, Iraq’s - most famous arms markets.

Markets like Maridi sprang up around Iraq after 2003, when former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein lost his iron grip on the country.  There are many such markets around the country, most large cities have them and they are often protected and run by local tribes, which makes them impervious to official security forces. Maridi market is considered the “Iraqi stock exchange” of these unofficial gun markets.

There are a lot of ways in which one can obtain weapons, says Alaa Zamel, a trader in the market. The most significant route is across unguarded border crossings from turkey. The guns and other weapons enter Iraqi Kurdistan in northern Iraq and are then brought to Baghdad; checkpoints don’t seem to be a problem and if they are, some counterfeit ID cards or a bribe will often work.

“Most of the weapons come from military stores, especially those located near the front,” Zamel told NIQASH. “Soldiers who lose their weapons during fighting are not questioned as to why. If a soldier dies fighting, lost weapons are registered in their name. So a lot of the lost weapons are registered in dead soldiers’ names. And those weapons go to the arms dealers.”

While Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve’s air campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant notched more than 26,000 ISIL targets damaged or destroyed as of the end of May, the war against ISIL also proceeds on other fronts.

From its headquarters here, Central Command runs two separate programs in the information war against ISIL. Through the command’s Digital Engagement Team, or DET, and separately through its web operations cell, Centcom’s military, civilian and contract employees work to combat ISIL propaganda in the cyber domain.

Centcom officials spoke to DoD News on background about the counter-ISIL information efforts.

Digital Engagement Team

The 11-member DET includes native-born speakers of Arabic, Urdu, Russian, Farsi, Dari and Pashto. Their job, officials said, is to represent Centcom in those languages and tailor their messaging to regional news cycles: Arabic in Arabic-speaking countries, Dari and Pashto for Afghanistan, Farsi for Iran, Russian for the Central Asian states, and Urdu for Pakistan.

Officials said ISIL’s dominance in the cyber realm has diminished since the group came to prominence in 2014. Now, one official said, “You’re not seeing the YouTube videos of victory parades, of lines of vehicles and black flags anymore.”

Centcom officials said the main “hub” of ISIL’s information campaign remains Twitter, but the group’s reach has been diminished as both Twitter and Facebook “have been pretty aggressive in taking down the accounts that they can recognize or that get reported to them.”

ISIL’s response has been to have supporters create dozens of dormant accounts to fall back on as active accounts are cancelled, a Centcom official said. “The way that they will maintain their audience is either through a hashtag in the description of the account, or the account image will be something like a little brand that people will be able to recognize, and the account will be numbered in such a way that people can sort of figure out -- because it will be sequential in numbers or letters or some way. So people can then very quickly get back to that source.”