Will CH2M Hill Replace Exxon in Water-Injection Project?
By John Lee. According to press reports, Iraq's South Oil Company (SOC) has awarded CH2M Hill a $170 million consultancy contract for the water injection project in the country's southern oil fields, replacing ExxonMobil. Al Bawaba quotes SOC Director General, Dhia Jaafar, as saying: "The South Oil Company has selected CH2M Hill to offer consultancy […]
Press Statements Following Maliki-Putin Talks
By John Lee. Presidents Maliki and Putin have issued the following statement after their meeting in Moskow: PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Mr Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen, Our meeting with the Prime Minister of Iraq, Mr Nouri al-Maliki, was substantive and constructive. Some significant changes have have been taking place in Iraq since Mr […]
Video: PKK Military Leader Interviewed
Murat Karayilan, the chief of the PKK's armed wing, explains the Kurdish role in Syria and the impact of the Arab Spring on the region, in this interview with Al Jazeera: (Source: Al Jazeera)
Iraq "wants Russians to Replace Exxon at West Qurna"
By John Lee. Iraq is considering replacing ExxonMobil at the supergiant West Qurna-1 oilfield with Russian companies LUKoil and Gazprom Neft, according to a report from Nefte Compass. Iraq regards Exxon's contracts in the northern Kurdish region of the country as illegal. But if any agreement was reached at this week's meeting between Iraqi Prime […]
EducationUSA Introduces Iraqi Students to US Unis
The U.S. Mission in Iraq is hosting an EducationUSA University Fair in Erbil, October 12 and 13, as part of its ongoing activities to promote educational and cultural exchange opportunities between the U.S. and Iraq. EducationUSA is funded by the U.S. Department of State and provides accurate and complete information – for free – to […]
Iraq to Spend $1bn on Czech Attack Jets
By John Lee. Iraq has agreed to buy 28 Czech-made Aero Vodochody L-159 advanced trainer/light-attack jets valued at $1 billion dollars (770 billions euros), a Czech defence ministry announced on Friday. Agreement to buy the 24 new planes and four older army surplus aircraft was reached at the end of a two-day visit to Prague by […]
Iraq to Maintain Basra Oil Exports in 2H-Oct
By John Lee. Bloomberg reports that Iraq will ship 25 cargoes of Basrah light crude from the Persian Gulf in the second half of October, compared with 21 in the previous two-week period. According to the loading program, Iraq will export a total of 36.6 million barrels from the al-Basrah Oil Terminal (ABOT) (pictured), 2.2 million […]
WesternZagros Confirms Oil at Kurdamir-2
By John Lee. WesternZagros Resources has completed its testing program in the deepest of the three stacked reservoirs drilled by the Kurdamir-2 exploration well in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The testing confirmed an oil discovery in low permeability fractured limestones of the Cretaceous-age, Shiranish Formation, adding to the previously announced major oil discovery in […]
Environment Ministry Approves 30 Projects
By John Lee. Iraq's Ministry of Environment has approved thirty projects in services, industrial and agricultural fields in Wasit province. Its official spokesperson and the director of environmental information, Amer Ali Hasson, said the projects included seven services projects and 13 industrial projects, in addition to ten agricultural projects. (Source: AIN) (Picture: Iraqi Environment Minister, […]
Invest In Iraq - Golden Opportunity For SMEs
A special conference is being held in London next month aimed specifically at SMEs who are interested in breaking in to the Iraqi market. Iraq is potentially one of the richest countries on the planet with wealth from mega oil fields boosting the economy by up to £7 billion a month. Many billions more will […]
Iraq Aims to Beat IEA Oil Forecast
By John Lee. Iraq has said its oil output could reach up to 10 million barrels per day by 2020, higher than the recent prediction from the International Energy Agency (IEA). Speaking at a ceremony for the publication of the IEA report, Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister for energy, Hussain al-Shahristani (pictured), predicted that the country's […]
Qatar National Bank Takes Over Iraq's Al-Mansour
By John Lee. Qatar National Bank (QNB) has announced that it has taken control of Iraq's Al-Mansour Investment Bank. It acquired an additional 27.7 percent shareholding for a cash payment of QR425.4 million, bringing its interest in the bank to 50.8 percent. The company said that goodwill of QR117.6 million has been determined on acquisition […]