Weekly Security Update
By Gary Sandiford, Olive Group’s Dubai based assessments manager. Olive Group is a leading provider of security and technology solutions and has operated continuously in Iraq since 2003. Overview Olive Groups Iraq statistics are drawn from multiple sources, including media reporting and direct liaison with in country assets. Included within the statistics are a […]
Chevron Awarded Stake in Qara Dagh
By John Lee. Iraqi Kurdistan's energy minister, Ashti Hawrami, is reported as saying that the KRG has awarded Chevron a stake in the Qara Dagh oil block (pictured). Jay Pryor, Chevron's Vice President for business development, met with Kurdistan President Mr Masoud Barzani at the World Economic Forum in Davos, reports Steel Guru. During the […]
Baghdad Free Zone Approved
By John Lee. Iraq’s Free Zone Authority (FZA), an independent authority under the Ministry of Finance, has signed an agreement with the City Centre for Vehicles Services Company to approve a new free zone in Baghdad. The Director General of the Authority, Sabah Salih al-Qaisi (pictured), said the new free zone would be in the Awiridj […]
Deputy PM al-Mutlaq "Submits Resignation"
By John Lee. The National Council of Resistance of Iran reports that the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, Saleh al-Mutlaq (pictured), has submitted his resignation on Monday. Iraqi member of parliament Mr. Raad al-Dahlaki, reportedly told Iraqi news outlets on Monday: "The leaders of Al-Iraqiya held a meeting on Monday in the house of Mr. Ayad Allawi […]
Iraq Cuts Gold Holdings by a Quarter
By John Lee. Reuters reports that Iraq cut its gold holdings by a quarter in November. Data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) showed that the country's stocks fell to 29.9 tonnes. (Source: Reuters)
UN Helps Iraqis Gain Advanced Uni Degrees
Since August 2010 the UNFPA Iraq Country Office has been supporting nine staff of the Iraqi Central Statistical Organization (CSO) and Kurdistan Regional Statistical Office (KRSO) to get their Master’s and PhD degrees in Demography and Statistics from the Institute of Statistical Studies and Research (ISSR) of Cairo University in Egypt. The programme they were […]
Roundtable Discussion on Violence against Women
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad hosted its second in a series of ambassadorial roundtables January 22 to explore how the United States and Iraq can best collaborate to combat violence against women and girls in Iraq and promote women’s empowerment. A group of Iraqi government and civil society leaders discussed with the Ambassador ongoing challenges […]
New Term Limits for Prime Minister
By Reidar Visser. The following article was published by Reidar Visser, an historian of Iraq educated at the University of Oxford and currently based at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. It is reproduced here with the author’s permission. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq […]
WesternZagros Announces Four-Fold Increase at Kurdamir
WesternZagros Resources has announced a fourfold increase in the Company's contingent resource estimates at the giant oil discovery on the Kurdamir Block in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Shares closed up 2.7 percent on Monday, but have risen more than 21 percent since the start of last week. The total mean estimate of gross unrisked […]
EPGI Awarded 11m Sq. Metre Oil and Gas Project
International developer EPGI has announced that they have been awarded the development management contract to develop and build the new Basra Oil and Gas International Free Zone in Iraq. The project is the second largest of its kind in the world covering over 11 million square metres, and is strategically located near the southern Iraq […]
Iraq to Achieve Electricity Self-Sufficiency
By John Lee. Electricity minister Kareem al-Jumaily has announced that Iraq will achieve electricity self-sufficiency by the end of this year, "except the problem of transporting the power from the stations to the cities". In an interview with Arabia TV station, he said Iraqi power production will jump to 13,000 MW before the coming summer. […]
Iran-Iraq Trade Could Hit $12bn
By John Lee. Iran Daily reports that trade between Iran and Iraq exceeded $10 billion in the current Iranian year (started March 20, 2012). Speaking at a seminar on trade and investment in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, which was held by Isfahan Chamber of Commerce, the Secretary-General of Iran-Iraq Chamber of Commerce Jahanbakhsh Sanjabi (pictured) […]