Election Campaigning Begins
By John Lee. Election campaigning began formally today across Iraq, Asharq al-Awsat reports. Perhaps optimistically, they suggest this marks the end of the crisis with the Independent High Electoral Commission, following their return to work last week. Campaign posters and billboards already adorn many parts of Baghdad, as seen in this Al Arabiya slideshow. Radio Free Iraq […]
Kirkuk-Ceyhan Pipeline Repair Causes Delay
By John Lee. On 20th March, 2014, Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani announced a KRG goodwill initiative to make a contribution to Iraq oil export to give the ongoing negotiations with Baghdad the maximum chance of success. The Prime Minister stated that the contribution to oil export from the KRG would be 100,000 barrels per day, […]
APRIL FOOL: IBN Reporter Wins Award
By Nora Lenderby. Iraq Business News is pleased to announce that our intrepid reporter John Lee has been honoured with an award from the Goldman-Rothschild Institute for Monetary Efficiency. Although no formal announcement has been made, we understand that the award relates to the maintenance of monetary stability in Iraq. At first Mr Lee was […]
Abu Risha Condemns Bridge Attacks
By John Lee. Sheikh Ahmed Abu Risha, head of one side of the anti-Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham "Sons of Anbar" movement has condemned a series of attacks on bridges in the province trying to cut it off from the rest of Iraq. The Sheikh was typically defiant in his recent statement: "The Islamic […]
Samsung Sign $840m ENI Zubair Deal
By John Lee. Samsung Engineering Co., Ltd. has officially announced that it was awarded the North (Hammar Mishrif) New Degassing Station Facilities contract for the ENI Zubair Oil Field Development project in Iraq, worth $840 million. The signing ceremony was attended by Samsung Engineering’s President & CEO Mr.Park Choong-Heum, South Oil Company’s Director General Mr. Dheyaa Jaafar […]
West Qurna 2 Begins Production
By John Lee. Iraq's giant oil field West Qurna 2, with a minimum 14 billion barrels of recoverable reserves, began production on Saturday as Lukoil opened spigots to put 140,000 barrels a day onto the market. By the end of the year the field is set to produce 400,000 bpd, putting Iraq on track for […]
IHEC Retracts Resignation
By John Lee. It was news that stunned many observers, but was met with resignation by others expecting chaos surrounding April's general elections in Iraq: Last week, Iraq's entire Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) resigned en masse. That decision was blamed by the commission on "political interference" over a proposal by the judiciary to disqualify […]
ISIS Shifts Tactics in Fallujah
By Mushreq Abbas for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Three months after the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) decided to avoid public appearances and maintain a low profile in Fallujah, the group put on a military parade in the center of the city to […]
Iraqis Hone Skills To Preserve Heritage
By John Lee. The University of Arizona’s Drachman Institute is conducting an education program in heritage conservation through the Iraqi Institute for the Conservation of Antiquities and Heritage, funded by the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. The goal of the program is to build Iraqi museum professionals’ capabilities for preserving the country’s rich cultural heritage. Faculty from the College of […]
Taqa to Invest $300m in Atrush
By John Lee. Taqa (Arabic for "energy") has released it's full results for 2013, announcing that the company has secured regulatory approval for the development plan of the Atrush field in Iraq. The first oil production at Atrush is expected in 2015 (see Iraq section below.) For the full report on Taqa's 2013 results, including their […]
Budget Delay Hits KRG Banks
By John Lee. The delay in adopting Iraq's federal budget, in large part due to the dispute between Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government over oil exports and revenues, has reduced banking activity in the KRG by up to 25%, according to Adham Karim Darwesh. Darwesh, the manager of the Erbil branch of the Central Bank […]
Analysis of IHEC Resignation
The following was published by Reidar Visser, an historian of Iraq educated at the University of Oxford. It is reproduced here with the author’s permission. The opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. On Tuesday, the members of the Iraqi electoral commission IHEC collectively presented their […]