Philipines Relaxes Iraq Work Ban
Xinhua reports that the Philippine government has decided to partially lift the ban on the deployment of overseas Filipino workers to Afghanistan and Iraq. Rosalinda Baldoz, Department of Labor and Employment Secretary, said the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Governing Board, which she also chairs, has issued a resolution for the partial lifting of the […]
Iraq Stock Market Report
Rabee Securities Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) market report (week ending: 26 August 2011). Publication of this report was delayed for technical reasons, but we will publish future weekly updates every Friday. The RSISX index ended the week at ID1,633 / $1,811, +1.9% (weekly change). The number of weekly traded shares was 3.0bn and the weekly […]
Iraqi Minister says Dispute over Kuwaiti Port is Resolved
According to a report from Associated Press, Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari (pictured) says that a dispute over a planned Kuwaiti port has been resolved, and that the facility will not disrupt Iraqi shipping in the Persian Gulf. The minister said that a technical review showed that the Mubarak port on Boubiyan Island "won't affect our […]
Gulf Keystone Updates on Kurdistan Operations
Gulf Keystone provided an update on its ongoing exploration and appraisal programme for the Shaikan block in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on Monday: Shaikan is a major discovery with independently audited gross oil-in-place volumes of between 4.9 billion barrels to 10.8 billion barrels calculated on the P90 to P10 basis with a mean value […]
Hunt Oil Signed KRG Deal 'Despite US Warning'
Hunt Oil Co. was warned before it signed a contract with the Kurdish government in Iraq that it might not be dealing in Kurdish territory, UPI reports. The Dallas-based energy company signed a production-sharing contract (PSC) with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in 2007. It was warned by the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad that the […]
Iraq Bars Hess from 4th Energy Auction
Reuters reports that Iraq's Oil Ministry has excluded American oil firm Hess Corp from competing in its 4th energy auction because the company signed deals with Iraq's northern Kurdish region. As we reported last week, Hess was one of the 41 companies pre-qualified for the auctions, but it was not included on a new list […]
Alstom Signs $94m Power Contract in Nineveh
Iraqi's Ministry of Electricity signed a contract on Saturday with French conglomerate Alstom to build a power generation plant in Nineveh province at a cost of approximately $94 million, according to AKnews. The Ministry said the plant will begin generating by the end of 2012. Reuters reportst that the deal requires Iraq to pay 10 […]
ONGC Videsh Close to $1.5bn Iraq Oil Deal
ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the overseas arm of the Indian state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), may invest over $ 1.5 billion in exploring for oil in Iraq in a block that was awarded to it by the regime of Saddam Hussein, according to a report in the Economic Times. “We are nearing finality […]
Defense Solutions Releases Iraq-Focused Business Plan
Defense Solutions Holding, Inc. (DFSH:PK), CEO Timothy Ringgold outlined the firm’s five year growth plan that capitalizes on the firm’s extensive opportunities in Iraq. Defense Solutions has worked in Iraq since 2005 when it was the only supplier of battle tanks to the new Iraqi Army. Release of the business plan followed meetings in the […]
Plans Finalised for 100,000 Houses in Bismaya
Iraq's National Investment Commission (NIC) has announced that it has finalised the fundamental designs for the project to build 100,000 housing units in Bismaya. The units are to be built on a site of 8,000 donums (2,000 hectares), and will accommodate 500- 600,000 Iraqi citizens. NIC Chairman, Dr. Sami al-Araji, said in a press conference […]
New Iraqi Dinar - "Corruption and Money Laundering"
According to a report from Aswat al-Iraq, an economic advisor to Iraq’s Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, has described the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI)'s plan to redenominate the Iraqi currency as “the worst corruption and money-laundering process in the history of Iraq.” “The CBI must understand that it is playing with fire and undermining the course […]
The Political-Majority Alternative to the Current Iraqi Government
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. […]