HSBC hits Regulatory Issues over Iraq Exit
By John Lee. Banking giant HSBC is reportedly struggling to exit its Iraqi operations, having had two proposals to sell its stake in Dar Es Salaam Investment Bank (DES) rejected by the country's regulator. We reported in June that HSBC was exploring options to dispose of its 70.1 percent holding in the Iraqi bank following […]
Iraq Suffers Power Crisis As Temperatures Soar
By Ali Abdel Sadah for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has admitted to a “defect and stupidity” in the contracts signed by Iraqi officials with international companies to improve his country's power distribution. On July 23, in a Baghdad meeting with […]
Oil Production Fall Could Create Budget Deficit
By Matthew Gayle. Iraqi parliament Oil & Energy Committee member, MP Suzan al-Sa'ad, recently stressed that the country's decline in crude oil production during 2013 will lead to major deficit in the federal budget of 2014. According to a report by the Oil Ministry, Iraq oil exports decreased at average of seven million barrels in […]
Emergency Messages for U.S. Citizens
The Department of State has instructed certain U.S. Embassies and Consulates to remain closed or to suspend operations on Sunday, August 4. The Department has been apprised of information that, out of an abundance of caution and care for our employees and others who may be visiting our installations, indicates we should institute these precautionary […]
More than 1,000 Killed in July - UNAMI
According to casualty figures released today by UNAMI, a total of 1,057 Iraqis were killed and another 2,326 were wounded in acts of terrorism and violence in July. The number of civilians killed was 928 (including 204 civilian police), while the number of civilians injured was 2,109 (including 338 civilian police). A further 129 members […]
Apology of Loss of Service
Dear Readers, Iraq Business News would like to apologise for being unavailable for several hours on Thursday. The downtime was caused by an air-conditioning failure at our data centre, which meant that servers had to be switched off to prevent over-heating. The problem was beyond our control, and has now been resolved. We know that […]
Weekly Security Update 24 - 31 July 2013
By Tom Walker, Director, Assaye Risk COUNTRY OVERVIEW Iraq has once again been gripped by severe violence this week with hundreds killed in multiple bombings and shootings, which have predominantly, and somewhat unsurprisingly, targeted Baghdad and the northern Provinces. Thursday 25 July saw at least 28 people were killed in bombings and shootings across Iraq. […]
How Much Can Iraq Afford to Lose?
Amidst all the news of increased violence in Iraq, this week has seen many positive news stories, including a $700-million contract win for Daewoo at the Akkas gas field, and the shares of two oil explorers rebounding strongly. But staying on energy matters, we cannot escape the continuing problem of reduced oil exports. Sabotage of […]
Genel Energy Closes Day on High
By John Lee. Shares in Kurdistan-focused Genel Energy finished Wednesday up over 2 percent, as CEO Tony Hayward said there is "a lot to look forward to" in terms of oil and natural gas production from the Kurdish region of Iraq. The shares are trading at levels not seen since early 2011. The text of […]
OPEC Again Excludes Iraq from Oil Quotas
By Omar al-Shaher for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The Iraqi Ministry of Oil affirmed that Baghdad’s share in oil production will not be part of the OPEC specified quotas for 2014. The ministry said it was likely for Iraq […]
Calik to Supply 1/8 of Iraq's Power
By John Lee. According to a report from World Bulletin, a new 750-megawatt (MW) power plant in Mosul city is planned to be completed and operating by September 2013. Build and run by Turkey's Calik Energy [Calik Enerji], it will be Iraq's fourth-largest power station; the company's other plant at al-Khairat in Karbala is the […]
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