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By John Lee.

World Tribune reports that Iraq has received its first shipment of Russian Mi-35 attack helicopters.

Part of a $4.3-billion deal with the Kremlin, the helicopters are regarded as some of the most advanced in the Russian military.

“Iraq expects to see a consignment of around 40 Mi-35 and Mi-28NE attack helicopters by the end of the year,” Iraqi parliamentarian Abbas Al Bayati said.

Officials said Moscow has also been preparing to deliver an unspecified number of Ka-52 attack helicopters.

(Source: World Tribune)

By Semih Idiz for Al-Monitor . Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

It is no secret, thanks to frequent leaks to the media, that energy cooperation between Turkey and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is continuing apace. This, however, has not broken the determination by both sides to maintain a low-key position on the subject. The sensitivity is due to strained ties between Baghdad, Ankara and Erbil over a number of issues, including the exploitation of northern Iraqi oil and gas.

The KRG has been demanding an independent say over the gas and oil in its region, arguing that Baghdad has not honored its pledge to give the Iraqi Kurds their rightful share of Iraq’s oil revenues. Baghdad denies this and has declared the KRG’s stance illegal and dangerous in terms of Iraq’s territorial integrity.

Baghdad has also accused Turkey of endangering Iraq’s territorial integrity through separate energy deals with the KRG, and has US support on this point. This, however, has not prevented energy cooperation between Turkey and the KRG. Turkish officials say if the United States is concerned, it should first convince the American oil giants Exxon and Chevron, who have also signed deals with the KRG.

An exclusive Reuters report this week, citing unidentified official sources, also showed that Turkey and the KRG are pushing ahead with “a comprehensive package of deals” in the energy field. This package, reportedly agreed on during last week’s visit to Istanbul by KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, includes multibillion-dollar oil and gas pipelines between Turkey and northern Iraq.

According to the Reuters report, these will enable the KRG to export some 2 million barrels per day of oil to world markets, and at least 10 billion cubic meters of gas to Turkey annually when completed. The first pipeline is almost ready and should be pumping oil by the end of December. The next stage will be to pump northern Iraqi gas by pipeline as of December 2016. The technical details for a pipeline that will carry heavy oil between northern Iraq and Turkey are also said to have been mapped.

Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani kicked off the nearly-$3-billion “Downtown Erbil” project on Sunday, calling the venture that is estimated to create 35,000 jobs and transform the face of the Kurdish capital, “a milestone for the Kurdistan Region.”

“This project will be a source of pride and a source of income for thousands of families,” Barzani said at a commencement ceremony with Mohamed Alabbar, head of Dubai’s Emaar Properties, which is leading the project and hopes to finish it in around five years.

Barzani said that the 133-acre “Downtown Erbil” -- which envisions the capital’s largest shopping mall, five-star hotels, apartment towers, schools and healthcare facilities -- “is a milestone for the Kurdistan Region.”

He added that the development marks a turn in Kurdistan, a three-province autonomous Kurdish enclave of five million in northern Iraq whose economy is booming and which posted a whopping 12-percent economic growth last year.

“Downtown Erbil will be a true hub for business and tourism in Erbil,” Alabbar told a gathering of government ministers, foreign diplomats, Erbil governor Nawzad Hadi and many businessmen attending the inauguration ceremony.

“It will touch around $3 billion,” Alabbar said about the cost of the development.

By Matthew Gayle.

According to UPI, Iraqi officials are saying that the military has started taking delivery of Russian arms as part of a landmark $4.3 billion contract signed in October 2012.

The officials have not specified which systems have arrived in Iraq or when, but UPI's sources say it's understood they include 10 fully armed Mil Mi-28NE Night Hunter attack helicopters, platforms that could be a major boost to the counterterrorism efforts by the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Russia's RIA Novosti news agency quoted Maliki's close aide Ali Musawi as saying "implementation of one of the contract's stages has begun" and systems involved were "mainly for anti-terrorist operations."

The 2012 contract marked Russia's return to a major Middle Eastern market it had dominated during the Soviet era. During Saddam Hussein's rule, that ended in April 2003, Moscow was Iraq's main arms supplier.

According to the 2012 contract, Iraq is scheduled to receive 30 of the all-weather Night Hunter helicopter gunships and 50 Pantsyr S-1 gun-missile short-range air-defense systems.

(Source: UPI)

By Matthew Gayle.

Ukrainian wheat was offered at the lowest price of $326 a tonne c&f free out (ciffo) in a tender from Iraq's state grain board to purchase at least 50,000 tonnes, European traders said on Monday. The offer was for 50,000 tonnes. A separate offer for 50,000 tonnes of Ukrainian wheat was made at $344.12 a tonne ciffo, according to the Business Recorder.

The lowest offers from other countries in dollars a tonne ciffo were Romanian wheat at $348.35, Russian at $355 and Hungarian at $355.38. Australian wheat was offered at $362.50, Canadian at $369.50, US wheat at $394, and German at $376. Australian wheat was available in the largest volume with total offers for 350,000 tonnes made at up to $392.76, followed by 200,000 tonnes from the United States offered at up to $442.42.

The tender sought shipment between November 15 and December 15, 2013, with delivery taking place between December 16, 2013, and January 28, 2014. Iraq is one of the world's largest importers of wheat, much of which goes to supply a national food ration program.

(Source: Business Recorder)

By John Lee.

Amarinth, a leading company specialising in the design, application and manufacture of centrifugal pumps and associated equipment to the Oil & Gas, petrochemical, chemical and industrial markets, has secured a new order in Iraq to supply a further eight API 610 OH2 A-Series pumps to the Zubair Initial Production Facility.

Last year, working with its agent in the region Horizon Development International, Amarinth secured its first business in Iraq to provide twelve API 610 11th edition Super Duplex OH2 A-Series pumps in Super Duplex for the produced water treatment package for the Zubair Initial Production Facility located in Basra in southern Iraq.

Following the successful delivery of those pumps on a short 24 week delivery, US giant oil services company Weatherford International, which holds the oil field facilities contract for Iraq's Zubair oil field, placed a further order for eight pumps to the same specification, on the same 24 week delivery.

This brings the total order value of pumps supplied by Amarinth to the Zubair Initial Production Facility to over $1.5M. Amarinth are also in on-going discussions with Weatherford International to supply more pumps to the same project.

Iraq is proving to be a rapidly expanding market for suppliers to the oil and gas industry and Amarinth has been building quickly on its initial successes. The company has received approved vendor status from both Lukoil (Russia's second largest oil company) and ENI and is progressing opportunities in the region with Iraq’s state owned oil companies South Oil Company and Midland Oil Company.

Oliver Brigginshaw, Managing Director of Amarinth, added:

“We are delighted to have secured this further order in Iraq with the help of our agent Horizon Development International. Whilst Iraq still poses many significant challenges, having a good local agent such as Horizon Development International is essential for trading in the country.

"We are currently seeing further significant growth opportunities in the region and the work we have completed to date to establish a foothold in the market, and these new reference sites coming online within Iraq within the next 12 months, will leave us in a strong position to win further business in the region.”

(Source: )

By John Lee.

China Petrochemical Corporation, also known as Sinopec, is still unable to participate in projects in central and southern Iraq four years after it acquired a project in northern Kurdistan, reports the Wall Street Journal.

The company held talks with Russia's Lukoil about jointly developing the West Qurna-2 oil field, but Lukoil's chief executive Vagit Alekperov said:

"Unfortunately, the Iraqi government didn't confirm joint work with Sinopec."

State-owned Sinopec has been unable to secure projects in central and southern Iraq since 2009, when it purchased Switzerland's Addax Petroleum, which had an oil contract with the Kurdistan Regional Government.

(Source: Wall Street Journal)

By John Lee.

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari held a meeting with the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Russia, Mr. Ilya Murgunov, on 7th October.

During the meeting, they discussed strengthening relations between the two countries and the results of discussions with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Mr. Sergei Lavrov, recently in New York during the meetings of the 68th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

The minister reviewed the implications of the issue of the Iraqi school in Moscow and the demand of Iraq for the Russian government to work to resolve this issue through respect for diplomatic immunities and judicial decisions.

They also discussed prospects of joint cooperation in a number of areas and the participation of the Federal Republic of Russia in the Baghdad International Fair.

(Source: MoFA)

By John Lee.

Energy-focused health and safety specialist Cresent has become the largest Control of Work (CoW) provider in Iraq after winning a contract worth $1.7 million with Russian oil company, LUKOIL Mid-East Ltd.

The contract will involve Aberdeen-based Cresent delivering an electronic version of its flagship CoW system WorkSafe® across the second phase of the West Qurna Field. The firm will supply the software in Arabic, English and Russian.

Cresent will also be tasked with delivering training for LUKOIL personnel in the run-up to the system going live in November this year. A support and maintenance contract for a three-year period following the system launch is in place.

The new project comes less than a year after Cresent rolled out a similar contract at the nearby Rumaila field. Managing director Tracie Watson (pictured) says Cresent’s previous experience in training Iraqi contractors will ensure that LUKOIL has a smooth transition onto the new system.

She adds:

"Our challenge in terms of Rumaila was to successfully manage a complete change of mind set in relation to the attitude towards Control of Work and therefore to encourage a safer working environment.

"We are confident that the implementation of the LUKOIL system will be as successful as previous contracts delivered in the region. This new contract builds on the package of work that we have already successfully delivered elsewhere in Iraq.

"However, the system that LUKOIL will be implementing does involve some additional functionality as it will require the integration of WorkSafe® into another software package and LUKOIL’s on-site CCTV system.

"While off the shelf versions are available, one of the most significant features of WorkSafe® is that it allows for bespoke versions to be created. This ensures that Cresent can respond to the needs of the client and their business objectives, regardless of location or the complexity of the operational need.

"This contract consolidates Cresent’s position as the largest CoW provider in Iraq. The Middle East market performed exceptionally well for Cresent over the past two years and we believe the region will continue to deliver significant results for the foreseeable future."

The launch of the pioneering WorkSafe® system, which is also available in a paper-based format, has been a key milestone in Cresent’s recent history. The CoW system, which enables operators to make significant safety improvements, has been translated into 10 different languages, and is used on both onshore and offshore assets around the globe.

(Source: Cresent)

By John Lee.

The Wall Street Journal and Reuters report that Iraq has shortlisted 12 international companies to build the new $18-billion oil export pipeline to Jordan, the country's first such pipeline in decades.

Iraq's oil ministry has chosen these companies from a list of more than 80 international firms which submitted their credentials to build a section of the 1,040-mile pipeline from Basra to Jordanian Red Sea port of Aqaba.

The short-listed companies and consortiums are:

• Lukoil (Russia);
• China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC);
• Marubeni Corporation (Japan);
• Mitsui (Japan);
• Toyota Tsusho (Japan);
• Punj Lloyd (India) and Mass Global International (Iraq);
• Saipem (Italy);
• Daewoo International Corporation (Korea);
• Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) (Greece);
• Go Gas (India), Larsen & Toubro (L&T) (India), and Fius Capital (Dubai);
• Petrofac (UK) and Stroygazconsulting (SGC) (Russia); and,
• Orascom (Egypt) and Petrojet (Egypt).

It is understood that the State Company for Oil Projects (SCOP) will invite the short-listed companies to receive the tender package, and then submit their offers by November or December.

Iraq and Jordan signed a preliminary agreement in April to build the section of the pipeline that would stretch from an Iraqi oil pumping station in Haditha, west of Iraq, to Aqaba. The rest of the pipeline, which is 680 kilometers long, linking a Basra pumping station with the one in Haditha would be built and financed by the Iraqi oil ministry.

Iraq hopes the pipeline will make it less dependent on Persian Gulf export terminals, providing an alternative route if Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz.

A third section of the pipeline, running to Syria's Banias port in the Mediterranean, has been postponed because of the conflict in the neighboring country. It would have a capacity of 1.25 million barrels a day.

(Sources: WSJ, Reuters)