Kuwaiti Company to Clean up Basra
By John Lee. The Kuwait National Cleaning Company has reportedly won a three-year, 207-billion-Dinar contract to remove trash from Basra city. According to a report from Alsumaria, the company beat six competitors from Germany, Lebanon, Turkey and Iran. The Governor’s advisor for services, Mohamad Jaafar, said: "Al Basra’s Governor, Majed Al Nasrawi, reiterated on numerous […]
Another Kurdistan Success for the MEA
The UK's Middle East Association in association with British Expertise took a highly successful trade mission to Iraqi Kurdistan from 22nd-27th February, visiting Erbil and Slemani. Comprising 16 delegates representing 14 companies, it was supported by the Kurdistan Regional Government and was received warmly at the highest level. The packed programme included meetings with the […]
US Travel Warning
The Department of State warns U.S. citizens against all but essential travel to Iraq. Travel within Iraq remains dangerous given the security situation. This Travel Warning supersedes the Travel Warning dated September 5, 2013, to update information on security incidents and to remind U.S. citizens of ongoing security concerns in Iraq, including kidnapping and terrorist […]
Oil Exports Hit 25-yr High
By John Lee. Iraq produced oil at a rate of 3.5 million bpd in February, and exported at a rate of 2.8 million bpd, a sharp month-on-month gain and the highest such figure in at least a quarter-century, reports AFP. The deputy prime minister for energy affairs, Hussain Al Shahristani (pictured), said February output would have […]
Gazprom Connects Badra to Main Pipeline
Gazprom Neft has completed laying, testing and connecting a 165 km oil pipeline from the Badra field, which the Company operates in Iraq, to the Gharraf oilfield (Nasiriyah district, Iraq). With infrastructure already in place at Gharraf, completion of the pipeline from Badra means that the field is now connected to the main Iraqi pipeline […]
Genel Releases Full Year Results
Genel Energy has announced its preliminary audited results for the year ended 31 December 2013: Results summary KRI export pipeline infrastructure complete and in the commissioning phase. Volumes of KRI oil in storage at Ceyhan continue to grow Turkey-KRG Gas Sales Agreement a significant milestone in the commercialisation of Miran and Bina Bawi gas fields […]
Ooredoo hits out at Iraq Delays
By John Lee. Qatari telecommunications operator Ooredoo, which owns the Iraqi mobile phone company Asiacell, has hit out at prices quoted by the Iraqi government for a long-delayed auction for 3G spectrum licences. Company CEO Dr Nasser Marafih (pictured) told Arabian Business: “The country needs it, the people need it. We are ready to deploy […]
$100m Appeal for Anbar
The United Nations Iraq and the Iraqi Ministry of Migration and Displacement today launched an appeal to address the immediate humanitarian needs of the hundreds of thousands of people affected by the ongoing fighting in Anbar Province. The Strategic Response Plan will benefit up to 240,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) as well as those within […]
IBN - Home of Iraq's Best Bloggers!
We are proud to announce that in our newsletter this week the top four articles are all from our dedicated panel of bloggers: Our Expert Blogger Mark DeWeaver has written two very insightful artices on the Iraqi banking system; Expert Blogger Madeleine White has written on new initiatives to educate Iraqi youth; and, Guest blogger […]
Iraq’s Missing Market
By Mark DeWeaver. In my last post I argued that Iraqi banks’ high cash/deposit ratios are due to the absence of an interbank market. If that is the case, you might think it would be easy to get the banks to put more of their deposits to work in the "real economy." Couldn’t somebody (e.g. […]
Iraq May Build Refinery in Sudan
By John Lee. The Minister for Oil Abdul Kareem Luaibi [Elaibi] has received the Sudanese Minister of Oil, Mr. Makkawi M. Awadh, and his delegation in his office in Baghdad. Following the meeting, Mr. Luaibi said: "We discussed [how] to supply Sudan with crude oil, as well as the possibility to participate in building a […]
Poverty and Unemployment Not Being Addressed
By Layth Mahdi, Agricultural Advisor. The opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Poverty and Unemployment Not Being Addressed in the Coming Iraqi Elections Iraq's poverty and unemployment is increasing every year despite the Government's efforts to implement programs to lower it. The United […]