Baghdad to Protect Turkish Companies
By Simon Kent. The chairman of the Baghdad Provincial Investment Commission, Shaker al-Zamli, has committed to protecting Turkish commercial interests in Iraq following the ongoing Turkish hostage crisis. Early this month, 17 Turks and a Kurdish man were taken captive by a hitherto unheard of fringe Shi'a group. Two have subsequently been released, and the act has […]
Ergil Complete Gharraf Maintainance
By Simon Kent. Turkish oil and gas services company Ergil have announced the completion of a project with Petronas, to provide pipeline maintenance via "pigging" at the Gharraf oil field in Thi Qar province. Gharraf is operated by Petronas, Japex and North Oil Company, and the services Ergil provided installing "pig launchers" and "pig receivers" […]
Kentz Awarded Contract at West Qurna 1
Canada's SNC-Lavalin has announced the award of a contract to Kentz, a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group, by ExxonMobil, for a new oil processing facility to increase production at its West Qurna 1 oil field in Iraq. Kentz, with its regional partner, is providing the front-end engineering design (FEED), detailed design engineering, procurement, fabrication, construction, […]
New Help Desk to Streamline Tendering Process
The Iraqi Ministry of Planning has opened a new Procurement Help Desk to streamline the tendering process. Speaking at the opening of the facility, US ambassador Stuart E Jones (pictured) made the following statement: "Thank you for those excellent remarks and thank you for your support to the USAID and embassy teams that have been […]
Central Bank: "Limited Risk of Devaluation"
By John Lee. Bloomberg quotes Iraqi Central Bank Governor Ali Mohsen Ismail (pictured) as saying that Iraq has enough foreign reserves to maintain its currency peg, but didn’t rule out a minor devaluation to shore up government revenue hurt by the slump in oil prices and the war on Islamic State militants. He said reserves […]
Genel Energy Confirms Bina Bawi Acquisition
By John Lee. Genel Energy has announced that it signed a definitive sale and purchase agreement with OMV to acquire its 36% operated stake in the Bina Bawi field. Completion of the acquisition is subject only to government approval, which is expected shortly. The consideration comprises an upfront payment of $5 million. A contingent payment […]
Iraq Struggles with Widespread Bribery
By Wassim Bassem for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraq’s government, society struggle with widespread bribery With shocking innocence, Ali al-Sultani from Babil, a city 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Baghdad, told Al-Monitor what he does to have official documents dealt with […]
Two Turkish Hostages Released
By Simon Kent. The Turkish government has confirmed that two hostages have been released by the group calling themselves the "Death Division," who kidnapped the workers in Baghdad early this month, along with 16 other hostages. The two men were said to be in good condition, confirmed by both Turkish and Iraqi authorities, who also […]
Gulf Keystone Announce Shaikan Milestone
By Simon Kent. Gulf Keystone have announced that the Shaikan field in the Kurdish region of Iraq (KRI) has now exceeded 15 million barrels of commercial production. According to the company, this amounts to a daily average production in excess of 40,000 barrels of oil gross. The oil is trucked to the Turkish border before […]
Iraq Still Seeking CSSF Contractor
By Simon Kent. Iraq's Common Seawater Supply Facility, the project originally intended to supply 12 million barrels a day of treated sea water for injection to maintain pressure at oil wells, may be delayed until 2020. Originally scheduled for 2013 after planning began in 2009, the project stalled when Exxon (who had the original contract […]
US Combat Troops in Iraq?
By Robert Tollast. According to a report in Asharq al Awsat, later re-reported in Britain's Daily Mail and The Times of Israel, 160 US combat troops have been sent to the base of Al Assad in Anbar province. Al Assad is a vast military complex in dangerous, contested territory west of Ramadi, and according to reports, the troops […]
15 Air Strikes Hit ISIS in Iraq
By Simon Kent. The US Department of Defence have released data on Coalition air strikes on ISIS in Iraq and Syria, normally indicative of 24hrs of military activity. Without context, the report reads as a list of different attacks on the terrorists with no apparent meaning other than removing ISIS fighters and equipment from […]