Baghdad to Build American University
Baghdad Council has announced that it had agreed to build an American university at a cost of $245 million USD (286 billion IQD) in the Bismaya area southeast of the capital. The Chairman of the Council's Planning and Follow-up Commission, Mohammed al-Rabie, told AKnews the faculty will be limited to science, engineering and medicine and […]
Video: Alleged Iraqi Oil Smugglers At Work
The following video purports to show Iraqi oil smugglers digging up an underground pipeline, tapping into it, and then sucking up the overflowing oil. From the Musings on Iraq website: (Sources: Musings on Iraq, Youtube)
Iraq is Never Boring
Exactly a year since the (admittedly partial) formation of the Iraqi cabinet, Iraq is gripped by a governmental crisis that could spark further violence between the rival factions. While not meaning to downplay the seriousness of the problem, it's worth noting that in the past week alone we have reported nine separate completed business deals […]
Genel Energy in talks on Iraq Oilfield
Genel Energy, the oil and gas company headed by Tony Hayward (pictured), the former BP chief executive, has confirmed that it is in talks about a deal that would expand its presence in Iraq's energy industry. The company issued the following statement on Wednesday: "Genel Energy plc notes the press speculation with regard to the […]
Gulf States Support Kuwait on Mubarak Port
The leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council said they support Kuwait in its dispute with Baghdad over the construction of the Mubarak port. The leaders declared at the conclusion of their regular summit in Riyadh that Mubarak port will ve established on Kuwaiti land and within its territorial waters as per the borders drawn by […]
Weekly Security Update for 21st December 2011
Levels of violence fell in Iraq over the past week, with attacks concentrated in Mosul, Baghdad and Kirkuk. There was a scattering of incidents throughout the central provinces and a notable bombing attack on oil and gas infrastructure in Basrah province. Bomb attacks left at least 15 people dead and 77 injured, a decline from […]
Baker Hughes Wins $640m Iraqi Drilling Deal
Baker Hughes (BHI) has secured a $640 million contract to drill 60 wells at Iraq's southern Zubair oil field, according to a report from Dow Jones. Iraqi government spokesman Ali Al Dabbagh reportedly said on Tuesday that the Iraqi government and the consortium led by Italy's Eni had awarded the contract to an unnamed U.S. […]
GKP's Shaikan-6 Appraisal Well Spuds
Gulf Keystone has announced that the Shaikan-6 appraisal well has spudded on the Shaikan block in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on 16th December 2011. Shaikan-6 is the fourth deep appraisal well to be drilled on the Company's major oil discovery with independently audited gross oil-in-place volumes of between 8 billion barrels and 13.4 billion […]
Flydubai adds two new Iraqi routes
Flydubai has added two additional Iraqi destinations to its network with flights to Baghdad and Najaf due to start in the New Year. The new routes bring flydubai's network to 48 destinations across 27 countries in the Gulf, Middle East, Africa, Indian Sub-Continent, Asia and the fringes of Europe. Flydubai launched services to Iraq in […]
Dutch Govt Posts First Diplomat to Kurdistan
The Netherlands’ Deputy Head of Mission to Iraq, Mr Lars Tummers, today announced that the Dutch government has decided to station a diplomat in the Kurdistan Region. In his meeting with the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Head of Foreign Relations Minister Falah Mustafa, Deputy Tummers said that the Dutch Foreign Ministry has decided to upgrade its […]
The Hashemi Arrest Warrant
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. […]
Iraq Opportunity: Food Testing Labs
Iraq's National Investment Commission (NIC) has announced an investment opportunity to establish new Foodstuff Testing Laboratories at the border crossing points. The labs will control all foodstuffs entering Iraq, and should be constructed according to special specifications that ensure the safe storage of all kinds of foodstuffs. They will be constructed according to investment law […]