96 American Companies Seeking Investment Opportunities in Basra
A joint meeting was held on Wednesday between the American Chamber of Commerce and Basra's Investment Commission (BIC). Ninety-six American companies representing various sectors were in attendance to investigate investment opportunities in the province. The head of Basra's Investment Commission, Haidar Ali Fadhil, told Aswat al-Iraq that he outlined the investment opportunities for the American […]
Kalimat Offers Whole New Arena of Value Added Services in Q3 2011
Advertising Feature Kalimat, being a strong presence and a leader in Iraq in the 3 G and 4 G spectrum, is unveiling state‐of‐the‐art and novel services in the Iraqi market, which many more advanced countries are yet to launch. These services will enable Kalimat’s Iraqi subscribers, to do a lot more than just make calls […]
Iraq's Proposed New Labour Laws
When tacking the problems of unemployment and illegal work practices, Iraq has a difficult balancing act to achieve. On one hand, a civilised country cannot accept a situation where foreign labourers are tricked by traffickers to get them into the country illegally, and then told their pay will be a fraction of the minimum wage […]
Weekly Security Update for 23rd June 2011
Overall, levels of violence fell in Iraq over the past week, but the rate of weekly incidents has continued to fluctuate in recent months and the improvement is likely to be temporary. There have been three recent suicide attacks, targeting provincial government buildings and the police. Two of these attacks have taken place in the […]
Five Firms Shortlisted for West Qurna 2
Reuters reports that Iraq and its partners, Russia's LUKoil and Norway's Statoil, have shortlisted five companies to compete for the West Qurna Phase Two oilfield development contract. An Iraqi oil official who asked not to be identified said on Tuesday that the oil service companies selected are Saipem , SNC Lavalin Group Inc , Punj […]
Schlumberger Wins Gazprom's Badra Drilling Contract
Gazprom Neft has chosen Schlumberger to drill the first wells in the Badra oil deposit development project in Iraq, reports Oil Voice. The contract will last three years, and will involve three drilling rigs, with the drilling of the first appraisal and development wells expected to be completed in early 2012. A total of 11 […]
India's Lanco Wins $81m Anbar Power Contract
Lanco Infratech Ltd. (LANCI) of India signed an $81.3 million contract to build a gas-fired, 250-MW power station in western Iraq. Masaab Serri, an Electricity Ministry spokesman, told Bloomberg that the company is scheduled to build the plant within 16 months in Al-Qaim, in Anbar province in western Iraq, using natural gas from the nearby […]
Oil Exploration Begins in Karbala
Aswat al-Iraq reports that a Ministry of Oil geological team has arrived in the Ain Tamr area of Karbala [Kerbala] to explore for oil. Ain Tamr's local government official Mahfoudh Satai told the news agency that "there were many oil wells discovered 1970s that have not been fully excavated." Karbala's local government asked the Ministry […]
West Qurna Production Up 26%
Output at the West Qurna oil field in Basra has increased by 26% since March, reaching 347,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to AKnews. Madi Abdul-Razzaq, director of the operations committee said: "We have a number of new projects to increase production to 400,000 bpd by the end of 2011. The increased production in West […]
ShaMaran Petroleum Launches Shares on Stockholm Exchange
ShaMaran Petroleum, the Kurdistan focused oil development and exploration vehicle, has announced that the company has been approved for trading of its common shares on the First North list of NASDAQ OMX Stockholm (“First North”). The company’s common shares commenced trading on First North at the market opening on June 22, 2011, under the symbol […]
Iraq to Give $9.48m in Aid to Japan
Just days after Iraq approved a loan from Japan for infrastructural development, Iraq said on Wednesday it would donate $9.48 million in disaster relief to Japan as Tokyo struggles with the devastation of a March 11 tsunami. "The government has agreed to donate $10 million in aid following the events in Japan, and is also […]
Petro Dollars to Boost Agribusiness in Iraq
By Layth Mahdi, Agricultural Advisor. The opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraq is predominantly an agricultural country. It has a great diversity of climate, soil types, and natural resources. In the 1950’s, Iraq was self-sufficient in agriculture and the number one exporter […]