Iraq Just has to Work Better
"[Iraq] doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to work better." Those were the words this week of BBC's World Affairs Editor, John Simpson, a man very familiar with the workings of Iraqi society. And while no country is perfect, we can find a long list of countries that work better than Iraq at […]
KNOC Reports Oil Discovery in Kurdistan
By John Lee. The South Korean news agency Yonhap reports that there has been a "significant" oil discovery in the Hawler field in Iraqi Kurdistan. State-run Korean National Oil Corporation (KNOC), which owns 20 percent of the field, said it yielded 10,000 barrels per day during initial testing. Swiss company Oryx Petroleum has a 65 […]
French Firm to Open new Dry Port in Baghdad
After over thirty three years of continuous presence in Iraq, the CMA CGM Group is pleased to announce the opening of its new bonded Dry Port* near Baghdad, in the Abu Ghreib [Abu Ghraib] area, in Iraq, in June 2013. Exclusively managed and operated by CMA CGM, the Dry Port will be the only one […]
Iraq Confirms Oil Sales to Egypt
By John Lee. Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs, Hussein al-Shahristani (pictured), has confirmed that 4 million barrels of crude oil per month is to be will be shipped to Egypt from next April. Speaking to Associated Press, al-Shahristani did not say whether Iraq will sell at preferential prices, as it does with neighbouring […]
Oil Output Up in February
By John Lee. Platts reports that Iraqi oil production rose slightly in February to 2.963 million barrels per day (bpd), up by 43,000 bpd over January. Figures from the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) show that Iraq exported 2.536 million bpd last month, 177,000 bpd above January's tally of 2.359 million bpd, and only 78,000 […]
Patterns of Reinstatement in Local Elections Lists
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 […]
Standard Chartered Plans Iraq Push
By John Lee. Standard Chartered bank plans to expand operations in Iraq this year. The firm's regional head, Christos Papadopoulos (pictured), told Reuters in an interview: "The amount of economic activity in Iraq now is substantial. We always wanted to be onshore in Iraq. It was never a question of if but a question of […]
Iraq's Big Plans for Renewable Energy
Iraq has plans to generate 400MW of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2016, according to a report from MEED. Speaking at MEED’s Iraq Energy Projects Conference in Dubai, Rafah Mohammed, from the energy production office at the Ministry of Electricity, said this would be about 2 per cent of the country’s total power […]
US Sec. of State John Kerry's Speech in Iraq
The following is the text of the speech and press conference of US Secretary of State, John Kerry, in Baghdad: Secretary Kerry: Good afternoon. As-Salāmu `Alaykum. I’m glad to be here with all of you, and it’s a pleasure for me to be able to be back in Iraq. I haven’t been able to be […]
Zebari Delivers Arab Summit Presidency to Qatar
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari headed the Arab League Council at the ministerial level on Sunday. In the opening session minister Zebari gave a speech in which he stressed the achievements of the Iraq's presidency to the 23rd Arab Summit, indicating the Iraq's positions towards the issues of the Arab region, particularly the Palestinian issue and […]
Iraq Reviews Oil Targets
Thamir Ghadhban (pictured), the chairman of the prime minister's advisory commission on energy, has said that Iraq is revising its oil production targets. Speaking at the MEED Iraq Energy Conference in Dubai, he said Iraq that Iraq should average 2.9 million barrels per day this year, rising to 4.5 million bpd by the end of […]
DoubleTree by Hilton Announces Growth In Kurdistan
Hilton Worldwide today announced its expansion in Iraq's semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan into the city of Sulaymaniyah following the signing of a management agreement with Kurdonia Company for Tourism & Hospitality Ltd, owned fully by Hiwa Rauf Company. The new build, 223-room DoubleTree by Hilton Sulaymaniyah is expected to open early 2015. The hotel will […]