US Congressional Staff visit Kurdistan
A large delegation of US Congressional staff visited the Kurdistan Region last week to meet with government officials, local businesses and schools, and to get a first hand view of how US-KRG relations can be further developed and improved. "This was the first Congressional staff delegation of its kind and size to the Kurdistan Region," […]
Iraq Gets A New De-Baathification Board ...
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 Business News. […]
Shell "Reduces Majnoon Plateau Target by Almost Half"
Reuters reported today (8 May 2012) that it has seen ministry of oil documents indicating that Royal Dutch Shell is ready to cut the production plateau target of the Majnoon oilfield to 1 million bpd from 1.8 million bpd. In my humble view, if this is true, it should be a welcoming development. As many, […]
OPEC Oil Output highest since 2008
The output of OPEC in April hit its highest point since 2008 as extra crude from countries such as Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq more than compensated from the loss of Iranian crude supply. Analysts found that the 12 member countries making up OPEC averaged 31.75 million barrels per day (mbpd). In April it was […]
Iraq Topples Iran to become 2nd Largest Crude Supplier to India
The recent sanctions imposed on Iran by the United States has in turn put pressure on India to diversify to other oil producing nations. Until now Iran was India’s second largest supplier of oil, meeting 12% of the country’s needs. This position has now been taken over by Iraq. The reason for the movement away […]
Shell in Talks to Cut Majnoon Output Target
Royal Dutch Shell is in talks to try to cut the production target at the Majnoon oilfield to 1 million bpd from 1.8 bpd. Shell executives proposed the extension of the oil fields plateau, which begins in 2017, to 20 years from seven years. The Iraqi side is understood to be resisting pressure to increase […]
Iraqi Political Leader Meet to Discuss Political Impasse
Leaders from Iraq’s top political parties announced on Saturday that a solution was needed to a growing crisis between the Shi’ite led government and the Sunnis and Kurds. The statement was made after a series of meetings between senior Sunni, Kurdish and Shiite politicians who are becoming increasingly frustrated with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (pictured). […]
EIC Iraq Energy Overview 2012
EIC Consult brings you a fantastic opportunity to gain a thorough understanding of the Iraqi energy marketplace. The Iraq 2012 report delivers expert energy intelligence designed to identify existing investment opportunities and understand future growth requirements. The report provides over 200 pages of critical analysis of the current political and business climate alongside comprehensive coverage […]
Iraqi Co. for Financing SMEs Tops $26m in Loans
This week the United States Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), will reach a significant milestone in its efforts to support Iraqi businesses. Loans extended by Iraqi Company for Financing Small and Medium Enterprises (ICF-SME) to develop or expand small businesses will reach a total of $26 million or ID 30.18 billion. […]
President Barzani Discusses Political Crisis with US Ambassador
President Barzani yesterday welcomed US Ambassador to Iraq James Jeffery and Chief of the Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq General Robert Caslen in Salahaddin to discuss the current political crisis facing Iraq. Both sides underlined the importance of urgently resolving the current crisis through constitutional means and by respecting the existing agreements between the political blocs. […]
More Flights to Jordan and India
Iraq's Transport Ministry said it has agreed to increase the number of flights between Iraq and Jordan. There will be four trips weekly between Amman and Mosul, and five between Amman and Najaf. According to the report from Aswat al-Iraq, the Jordanian side has agreed to facilitate granting visas to Iraq. The ministry added that […]
The Battle for Iraqi Oil: Can There Ever be a Winner?
The battle for Iraq’s oil goes on. Iraqi Kurdistan is intent on controlling its own oil, Baghdad is intent on wresting that control from them. Will the impasse ever be solved? Only if both sides see reason, one commentator argues in this article from NIQASH. Ever since oil was found in Iraq nearly a century […]