Islamic State Fortifies Positions
By Patrick Schmidt. Last month, the Islamic State (IS) posted a tender for Iraqi contractors to bid on. The contractor will be in charge of digging a trench around the city of Mosul, that will measure 2 meters deep by 2 meters wide. The Islamic State is willing to pay the contractor 4,000 dollars per […]
Kerry on Number of IS Militants Killed
By Patrick Schmidt. The Secretary of State of the United States John Kerry announced that airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria had significantly reduced the terrorist group’s numbers. The announcement came after a meeting with other leaders from the 21-member coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS). Since August 2014, over 2,000 […]
GKP Names New CFO
By John Lee. Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) has appointed a new Chief Financial Officer. Sami Zouari (pictured), 42, joins the Company following careers in both the oil & gas industry and investment banking, where he also had a particular focus on the Energy and Commodities sectors in the Middle East and North Africa. Educated at […]
Iran-Iraq Trade Hits $12bn
By John Lee. Trade between Iran and Iraq has reached $12 billion, according to the Head of Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce, Yahya Al-e Eshaq. Addressing a conference in Tehran, he said an Iranian delegation to be headed by First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri will soon visit Iraq to discuss expansion of trade between the two […]
Ambassador: Tremendous Opportunities in Iraq
By John Lee. The Iraqi Ambassador to Malaysia, Prof. Dr. Basim Hattab Al-Tumma, has said that there are "tremendous opportunities" for Malaysian companies in the field of oil and gas exploration, infrastructure development, commodity trading, halal food and other consumer items. He said Iraq was looking forward to seeing Malaysia, a "brotherly Muslim country", assisting […]
Korean Beer Gains Market Share in Iraq
By John Lee. South Korea has become the third largest supplier of beer to Iraq, with exports to the country reaching 6,384 tons, or US$4.48 million, last year. This puts South Korea behind Hong Kong (55,484 tons) and China (20,112 tons). Four years ago, South Korea ranked as the country’s seven-largest beer exporter. According to […]
Currency Auction Results, 22nd Jan
By John Lee. The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has reported that 15 banks took part in its currency auction on Thursday. A total of $108,544,000 was sold at a price of 1166 Iraqi Dinars (IQD) per dollar. (Source: Central Bank of Iraq)
UK Forges Closer Ties with Iraqi Kurdistan
Baroness Emma Nicholson of Winterbourne, UK Trade Envoy for Iraq and Iraq Britain Business Council’s (IBBC) Chairman, highlighted on Tuesday the fact that “despite the heavy competition from major industrial countries such as Turkey, China and South Korea there are plenty of contracts and good partnerships being forged by British companies in the Iraq’s Kurdistan […]
Genel Energy Down 3% on Trading Update
Shares in Genel Energy were down 3 percent on Wednesday morning following the company's trading and operations update in advance of the its full-year 2014 results, which are scheduled for release on 5 March 2015. The information contained herein has not been audited and may be subject to further review: HIGHLIGHTS A combination of low […]
Oil Prices have "Reached Bottom": Oil Minister
By John Lee. Iraqi Oil Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi told a conference in Kuwait on Wednesday that oil prices are unlikely to fall further, following the drop of nearly 60 percent since June: "Our estimate is that the prices (of oil) have reached the bottom. It is very difficult to drop lower than this ... […]
Turkey Sends Power-Generation Ship to Basra
By John Lee. Turkey is to send a power-generation ship to Basra to help alleviate its electricity shortages. The announcement was made by Turkish Energy Minister, Taner Yildiz, on Sunday during the 17th Turkey-Iraq Joint Economic Commission meeting in Baghdad. According to Worldbulletin, the ship will add 410 megawatts to the existing capacity of 250 MW […]
ISIL Targets Professional Women, UN Warns
The United Nations human rights office today confirmed that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has established unlawful, so-called ‘shari’a courts’ in the territory under its control that have been carrying out cruel and inhuman punishments against men, women and children. Those who are punished are accused of ‘violating the group’s extremist […]