Terrorists Knock Out Asiacell Service in Nineveh
Bloomberg reports that militants have bombed an Asiacell equipment building near Mosul, damaging the mobile phone operator's network and knocking out service in some northern areas. The four attackers, some of whom wore military uniforms, held guns to the heads of security guards late on Thursday and planted four large explosives in a building housing […]
Jordan/Iraq Border Gas Exploration to Start Soon
Bloomberg reports that BP will start drilling exploratory wells at the Risha natural gas deposit in Jordan, near the border with Iraq, in the coming weeks. Jordanian Energy Ministry spokesman Fayez Abu Gaoud told the agency, “if it is proven that the volume of gas in the field is feasible for commercial purposes, the development […]
Gulfsands Updates Iraq Operations
In its latest corporate update, Gulfsands Petroleum included the following statement on its Iraqi operations: Gulfsands signed a Memorandum of Understanding in January 2005 with the Ministry of Oil in Iraq for the Maysan Gas Project in Southern Iraq, following completion of a feasibility study on the project, and is negotiating details of a definitive […]
8,000 New Houses for Zakho
The Duhok Investment Commission has licensed two housing projects comprising over 8,000 residential units in the distrit of Zakho (pictured), on the Turkish border, according to AKnews. The agency reports that Kurdistan has a shortage of 100,000 housing units, but this project is expected to meet all the requirements of Zakho. The two projects will […]
SGS Loses Iraqi Import Inspection Contract
Iraq’s Ministry of Planning has reportedly canceled its contract with Switzerland's SGS after the company allegedly failed to respond to Iraqi authorities about what they described as “sluggish work”. SGS and Iraq signed a contract in January 2011 whereby the Swiss company provides product conformity assessment services for qualifying products allowing their importation into Iraq […]
Iraq Statistical System Modernization Project
As part of UNFPA Iraq Country Office support to the National Statistical System (NSS) Modernization Project in Iraq that falls under the UN joint programme with Government of Iraq on Public Sector Modernization (I-PSM), UNFPA is calling for proposals from consultancy firms/ organizations involved in Statistical Systems reform and modernization to carry out Phase II of […]
Emergency Road Rehabilitation Project in Iraq
The Government of Iraq has received a Credit (IDA Credit No. 42120) from the International Development Association (IDA) toward the cost of the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Project (ERRP) implemented by the Ministry of Construction and Housing (MoCH), and it intends to apply part of the credit proceeds to payments for the consultancy services to prepare […]
Pragmatism Breaks Out in Iraq
There has been a welcome outbreak of pragmatism in Iraq in recent days. While the fact that ExxonMobil will apparently be allowed to take part in the auction for the fourth round oil licences was not entirely unexpected, some will see it as a climb down on the part of Baghdad. Others, such as Hess […]
Brain Drain with No Gain?
By T. Keyzom Ngodup, co-founder at Ideas sYnergy. Ideas sYnergy is Iraq’s first multiple bottom line advisory company committed to inclusive economic and social development through market-based solutions that help build and scale youth-driven innovative ideas for social change. An Economist report rightly pointed out that when people in the developed countries worry about […]
Baghdad Can Not Prevent Exxon-KRG Deal
Iraq’s legislation doesn’t prevent oil companies from signing deals with the central government in Baghdad and with the KRG, as ExxonMobil has done, said Adnan al-Janabi, chairman of Iraq’s Oil and Energy Committee. Speaking on the sidelines of an oil conference in London, he added, "there are no blacklists in parliament". “With or without the […]
Iraq Allocates $15bn to Infrastructure Projects
AKnews reports that the Iraqi government has allocated $15 billion (17.3 trillion Iraqi dinars) for infrastructure projects in the proposed 2012 budget. At the last budget meeting on 5th December, Baghdad set the budget at $100 billion (115.8 trillion IQD) with a deficit of $13.5 million. Abdul-Hussein Abtan, a member of the House of Representatives […]
Iraq to Increase Basra Crude Shipments in Feb
Iraq plans to ship 17 cargoes of Basrah Light crude oil from the Persian Gulf in the first half of February, according to a loading program obtained by Bloomberg. This would be two cargoes more than in the second half of January. A total of 28.06 million barrels, or 1.87 million barrels a day, will be […]