Vitol "Apologises" for Kurdish Oil Purchase
By John Lee. Reuters reports that top oil trader Vitol has apologised to the Iraqi government for buying Kurdish oil that was exported via Turkey without Baghdad's permission. Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul-Kareem Luaibi [Elaibi] said on in Vienna: "In terms of Vitol, they have cancelled the Kurdish amount and they apologised officially ... As for […]
STX Wins $150m Power Plant Order
By John Lee. South Korea's STX Heavy Industries has said it has won a $150-million order to construct and operate a power plant in Amara, in Missan province. Under the turnkey contract signed with Iraq's Ministry of Electricity, STX will take responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the plant for a year after its […]
New Contract Signed for Free Zone in Baghdad
By John Lee. The General Commission for Iraqi Free Zones (IFZ) has signed a contract to establish a special zone for commercial activities in accordance with the Free Zones law number 3 of 1998, reports to Aswat al-Iraq. IFZ director Saleh Saleh al-Qeissi [Sabah Saleh al-Qaisi] said: "The IFZ signed an investment contract with the Eaamar […]
60% of Parliament in Breach of Financial Disclosure Rules
By John Lee. Iraq's Commission on Integrity reports that Deputy Prime Minister Salih al-Mutlaq has still not complied with the country's financial disclosure requirements, despite that fact that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the other two of his three deputy Prime ministers have presented their financial disclosure statements to the Commission. President Jalal Talabani has also […]
New Iraqi Oil Prices for January
By John Lee. Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) has this morning adjusted its official selling prices for its Basra Light and Kirkuk crude grades for January. In common with some other countries, Iraq’s oil is priced relative to regional benchmark prices: For shipments to US, contracts are priced are relative to the Argus Sour […]
BlackBerry App World now Available in Iraq
Research In Motion (RIM) announced that the BlackBerry App World storefront is now available for customers in Iraq, offering them easy access to a broad range of mobile applications that are purpose-built for BlackBerry smartphones and BlackBerry PlayBook tablets. Customers can personalize their BlackBerry device, find the hottest games and entertainment, and get apps that […]
EIA Welcomes Lifting of Flight Ban
Erbil International Airport has welcomed the decision of the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) to lift its ban on commercial planes from the US flying into Kurdistan. The ban, imposed in 1996, for safety and security reasons has been in place for 16 years. The decision will benefit private jets, and cargo services in particular. […]
Iraq Stock Market Report
Advertising Feature Rabee Securities Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) market report (week ending: 29th November 2012). Please click here to download a table of listed companies and their associated ticker codes. ID1,623 / $1,755 (+0.6%) (weekly change). The number of week traded shares was 16.6bn and the weekly trading volume was ID24.1bn ($20.1mn). ISX Company Announcements […]
US, Iraq Commit to Enduring Strategic Partnership
Under the auspices of the Strategic Framework Agreement, the Governments of the United States of America and the Republic of Iraq reaffirmed their commitment to an enduring strategic partnership during the second meeting of the Defense and Security Joint Coordination Committee on December 5-6, 2012 in Baghdad. The meetings held at the Iraqi Ministry of […]
Shiite Leader: ‘There Won’t Be A War’ But Maliki’s End Is Near
By Qassim Khidhir Hamad. This article was originally published by Niqash. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. There has been an ongoing conflict between Iraqi Kurdistan and the rest of Iraq. But the representative of a major Shiite Muslim political party says […]
US Marine took $150k in Bribes in Iraq
By John Lee. A U.S. Marine could face a maximum of 20 years in custody for accepting $150,000 in bribes from contractors while stationed in Iraq. Associated Press reports that 36-year-old Staff Sgt. Gilbert Mendez, who worked as a contracting officer at Camp Fallujah in 2006 and 2007, pleaded guilty on Thursday to conspiring to […]
Air Arabia takes off for Basra
By John Lee. Air Arabia, the first and largest low-cost carrier (LCC) in the Middle East and North Africa, today announced the start of services to Basra, its third destination in Iraq. Inaugural flight G90377 landed in Basra international airport today at 09:15 commencing the start of service to the Iraqi City. The carrier offers […]