Jordan to Select Company to Transport Iraqi Crude Oil
By John Lee. A spokesman for Jordan's Energy Ministry says the Ministry will choose a company this month to transport 10,000 bpd of Iraqi crude oil b truck. Fayez Abu Gahud told Bloomberg: “The tenders committee is currently looking into financial bids submitted to the energy ministry and will announce the winning bidder as soon […]
165 New Companies Registered in July
By John Lee. AIN reports that Iraq's Ministry of Trade has registered 165 new companies in July. The Director General of registrations at the Companies Department, Feryal Akram Abdullah, told the news agency that: ''About 29 offices belonging to foreign companies have been registered as well as five branches for various foreign companies.'' (Source: AIN)
A Good Month for Iraqi Oil Shares
By John Lee. Like good comedy, the secret of good investment is often said to be timing. Someone buying shares at the end of June in Heritage Oil, which has interests in Iraqi Kurdistan, may have had reason to be concerned if they planned to sell shortly afterwards, as the shares were suspended in early July […]
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 Group's Iraq statistics are drawn from multiple sources, including media reporting and direct liaison with in country assets. Included within the statistics are a […]
Korea's Posco Wins $700m KRG Power Contract
By John Lee. The KRG has signed contracts worth $700 million (840 billion Iraqi dinars) with South Korea’s Posco Engineering & Construction Company and the Korea National Oil Company (KNOC) to build a power station and tranformer. Posco will build the plants and KNOC will finance the projects in line with terms of its 2008 […]
European Companies to Build Iraqi Operating Theaters
By John Lee. Iraq has signed contracts worth a total of $152 million with four European companies to build medical facilities throughout the country. Sorima Hospital Development of Italy, Ermedi International of France, Viessmann Technologies GmbH of Germany, and HT Labor & Hospital Technik AG, also of Germany, will each build 19 operating theaters. Qais […]
When Will Kirkuk-Ceyhan Pipeline Re-Open?
By John Lee. Estimates vary as to when oil will flow again through the pipeline that runs from Kirkuk to the Turkish port of Ceyhan (pictured), following the attack that halted exports on Sunday. Dow Jones quotes a shipping agent as saying on Wednesday that pumping is not expected to resume until he weekend. Reuters, […]
Un-Licensed Insurers “Liable to Severe Financial Penalties”
By Padraig O'Hannelly. With increasing commercial activity in Iraq, much of it by foreign-based investors, there's a growing market for adequate insurance to cover the risks. But in a country emerging from years of chaos, how can you be sure that the insurance you buy is legal and valid? To help clarify this point, Iraq […]
Iraqi Unemployment "to be Eliminated" by 2016
By John Lee. The Undersecretary of the Iraqi Ministry of Labour, Dara Yara, has said that unemployment in Iraq will be eliminated by 2016 under a new “strategic plan”. According to the Labor Ministry’s figures, about 16% of Iraq’s workforce is unemployed, but other estimates put the figure much higher. “We are working on eliminating […]
JICA Refutes Reports of $2bn Iraqi Loan
By John Lee. Japan’s International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has told Utilities Middle East that reports that the organisation had agreed a US $2 billion loan for the construction of a new Iraqi power plant are inaccurate. Japan’s principal overseas development agency, was reported by both KUNA and AIN to have agreed the massive loan to […]
Heritage Oil Jumps 21% on Resumption of Share Trading
By John Lee. Shares in Heritage Oil closed the day up 21% at 148.80p on Tuesday, following the resumption of trading on the London Stock Exchange. Trading in the shares had been temporarily suspended on 2nd July pending publication of a prospectus relating to the company's proposed acquisition in Nigeria, which was issued yesterday. On […]
WesternZagros Shares Hit 2.5-Year High
By John Lee. Shares in WesternZagros Resources hit a two-and-a-half-year high of Cdn$1.38 on Tuesday after the company announced that it has signed a strategic investment agreement with Crest Energy International LLC, under which Crest will purchase, through a non-brokered, private placement, 40,714,286 Common Shares of the Company at Cdn$1.40 per share for gross proceeds […]