Iraq Loses $22m due to "Extra" Eid Holidays
An Iraqi economist says the country will lose $22 million because of "extra" Eid al-Fitr holidays that the Iraqi government announced. Eid al-Fitr, which follows the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, is usually three days, however, AKnews reports that the Iraqi government last week extended the holidays to six day, to accommodate differences between the […]
New Iraqi Dinar to be Harder to Counterfeit
According to reports from Al-Sabaah, the Central Bank of Iraq is planning to make its new currency forgery-proof. Central Bank Governor Sinan al-Shabibi claims that the new currency's attributes will make it 'difficult' to falsify, and says that the project to delete the three zeros, if implemented, will enhance the value of the Iraqi dinar […]
Iraq and Libya (II)
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. […]
KBR Wins 3-Year UK Govt Deal in Iraq
KBR (NYSE: KBR) has announced that it has been selected by the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to provide life support, vehicle maintenance and healthcare services across Baghdad, Basra and Erbil in Iraq, and Kabul and Lashkar Gah in Afghanistan. This builds on KBR’s existing relationship with FCO delivering services in challenging environments. The […]
Citadel Capital Announces Iraq Refinery Deal
Citadel Capital reports that it has concluded a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Petroleum Ministry of Iraq to build a 150,000-barrel-of-oil-per-day (BOPD) complex petroleum refinery in Iraq. Under the terms of the MOU, the Ministry of Petroleum would guarantee the refinery its feedstock and purchase the refined products under a 25-year off-take agreement at […]
Eight New Power Stations Ready to Generate
The Iraqi Electricity Ministry announced on Monday that eight small diesel-powered electricity generators have been completed and are ready to start producing a total of 240 MW of power. Ministry spokesman Musab al-Mudarres told AKnews that the stations are First Northern Baghdad, Jadiriya, First Qurna, Second Qurna, al-Farabi, Falluja, Ramadi, and Balad. Each of them […]
16 Italian Companies to Enter Iraq for Housing
The Iraqi Council of Ministers has licensed 16 Italian companies to invest in housing projects in Iraq, according to AKnews. Salam al-Qurayshi, an advisor for the Council, told the agency that the companies will construct more than 12,000 houses for government employees in six provinces: Babel, Basra, Dhi Qar, Karbala, Muthanna and Maysan [Missan]. The […]
A Daawa Militia? The Appearance of Fursan Dawlat al-Qanun
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. […]
Gulf Keystone "Worth More than $2.3 Billion"
Shares in Gulf Keystone were up nearly 8% in early trading on the London Stock Exchange, following a Sunday Times newspaper report that it looking to sell itself for up to 1.4 billion pounds ($2.3 billion). The company issued the following statement on Monday morning, saying that press estimates significantly undervalued the company: Gulf Keystone notes […]
WesternZagros Spuds Mil Qasim-1 Well
WesternZagros Resources has started drilling operations at the Mil Qasim-1 well on the Garmian Block in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Mil Qasim-1 is located three kilometers to the south-east of the Company's Sarqala-1 discovery well. Mil Qasim-1 is targeting the prospective Upper Fars interval that exhibited numerous oil shows, including oil to surface in […]
New Draft Oil Law - Expert Analysis
On Sunday 28th August the Council of Ministers approved the draft oil and gas law prepared by the Ministry of Oil, considering it the only text that represent the council's view, and treating all other previous versions as invalid. Also the council decided to send the proposed draft to the parliament and request to table […]
Will they, won’t they ……. US Troops in Iraq
By Gavin Jones, Director of Iraq Business News, and Partner at consultancy firm Upper Quartile. This article was originally published on the Emerging Economics blog. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The US administration has declared again that it is “on track” […]