GE Opens New Facility to Help Boost Oil Production
By John Lee. Underlining its commitment to help strengthen Iraq's energy infrastructure, GE Oil & Gas has established a new technology and service center near Basra City. The facility, which was opened earlier this month, brings the latest GE technology and expertise to local customers to help boost production in the Rumaila oil field. In […]
Missan Emerges as Major Oil Producer
By John Lee. The Province of Missan has emerged as a major oil producer in Iraq as more of its oil fields come on stream. Ali Muaarij, the head of Missan Oil Company, said foreign firms are developing these fields and currently the province produces 230,000 bpd. He said he expected the Missan fields to […]
FM Zebari Meets EU Head of Mission
By John Lee. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hoshyar Zebari has met with Jana Hybáškova, Head of the European Union Mission in Iraq. During the meeting, the two sides discussed relations between Iraq and the European Union and ways to develop them under the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement signed between the two sides and was approved […]
Iraq Opens 2nd Floating Pier
By John Lee. Iraq has now opened its second floating pier to export crude oil via the Gulf. Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi [Elaibi] said: "Today vessels have started to load crude from the two Single Point Moorings at the same time, and that should remarkably expand our export capacity." The first floating pier was […]
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 […]